GATE: Thus, the Indian Army Fought There
by MKOfficial357
Summary: What was supposed to be a normal day in New Delhi, turned to be a day of nightmares. In retaliation, the Indian Govt. sends the Indian Army through the 'GATE'. Follow a member of the Indian Army Para SF, as he and his recon team explore this new world and its surprises. Cover image does not belong to me.
1. Chapter 1

**GATE: Thus, the Indian Army fought there**

**Chapter 1: An Unprovoked Act of Aggression**

1030hrs. 25th August, 20XX. New Delhi, India.

Captain Arjun Khare, 27 years old, of the Indian Army, lived to enjoy everything life had to offer and never looked back. Those were the words his grandmother had told him a long, long time ago and was something he had taken by heart. A boy being born and brought up in Mumbai, the financial capital, he went from studying Law in the UK, to joining the Indian Army.

After his graduation, Arjun had found work in a UK-based Law firm, but soon got bored and had decided to come back to India after working there for one year. He decided to join the Indian Army when separatist elements in the forests of Central India had blown up a military convoy, which saw a massive loss of lives. A few hours later, unblurred images that showed the brutal and charred remains of those brave soldiers had found its way to social media. Despite the Indian government's methods to have those images blocked, the damage was done. While people were on the streets, protesting the actions of the separatists and asking the governments on what response would they take, Arjun found himself filling an application form in a recruitment office of the Indian Army.

The army instructors found Arjun to be a natural during basic training and specialized training. It got to the point where the instructors thought that he would require a more of a challenge and his natural talent would be wasted in serving in the regular army. Therefore, Arjun soon found himself being shipped off to the Indian Army Parachute Regiment and Special Forces, commonly known as the Para SF. His time during the selection period could only be described by one word. Hell. However, he managed to complete it and continue on to the Advanced SF Training. Over there Arjun learned many skills and passed them all with high grades and after his final 90 days probation, he was allowed to wear the maroon beret and the "Balidaan" (Sacrifice) Badge and was commissioned as a Lieutenant. The next day saw Arjun being attached to the 21st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) as their newest member.

Well, on this hot August day, Arjun was getting in the Delhi Metro, making his way to the Delhi Comic-Con, as he had two weeks off. His buddies from Japan and the United States had asked him to get some merchandise for them as well, with Arjun bluntly replying that better stuff would be available at San Diego Comic-Con or the Summer Convention Event at Tokyo. However, two of his buddies, 1st Lieutenant Youji "Otaku" Itami of the Japanese Self Defense Force and Staff Sergeant Derek "Frost" Westbrook of the United States Delta Force had promised him to buy some merchandise for him at their respective countries. This made Arjun grudgingly part with his salary to buy more merch.

The three men had met when the Special Forces of India, Japan, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom had a joint military exercise on the JSDF training grounds on the foothills of Mt. Fuji. Arjun, Itami, and Frost had immediately hit it off with each other because of their shared interests in mangas, anime, and doujinshis. Though, Arjun and Frost became even more friendly when they found out that they were both fans of the same genres of video games. The three men also had a good relationship with many of the other soldiers including, Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley, Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson of the British SAS and the dreaded SAS legend, Captain John Price, call sign, "Bravo Six".

While not in uniform, the group would go to town many times and visit the bars, restaurants, and nightlife Japan had to offer. However, all of them displayed nothing short of absolute professionalism during the exercises, as that was very much expected from them. Of course, in the end Arjun had to manipulate, threaten and cajole Itami into doing his best (he took Itami's doujinshi and light novel collection hostage and threatened to burn them), something that was honestly very much appreciated by the Japanese soldiers and their higher ranked officers and to the amusement of the rest of the soldiers.

Elsewhere, near Arjun's location, many people had gathered around a strange structure. It was old and had an architecture resembling Ancient Rome. The middle of it was all black though, as it was hollow with an entryway. Many members of the crowd were those who were either attending or coming out of the Comic-Con event, and took this to be a part of their event but kept a reasonable distance from it. However, nothing could have prepared them for what happened next. Before anything could do or say anything, a large creature flew out of the structure. Because of the creature's speed, only a few could catch its shape, and those who did only muttered, "What the hell… Is that a dragon?"

That question, however, was not answered as a collection of ugly monsters and humans with the strangest armors accompanied by swords and shields came out of the structure and lined up. A few civilians in the crowd recognized this as a military formation and started backing away slowly while silently telling their friends or families to do the same. Meanwhile, the monsters were snarling, drooling and bashing their clubs and blades, while the human soldiers lined up with their shields covering their front and spears sticking out in the standard Phalanx formation of ancient Sparta. There were some horseback and dragon riders as well.

The crowd of civilians started realizing that this is not a polite greeting or a convention event and started backing away warily and fearfully. Suddenly, a horn was blown, and a few dozen soldiers started firing arrows in the air, which immediately impaled many of the citizens. Some of the monsters and soldiers started slashing and cutting everyone in their path.

It was a massacre.

Captain Arjun had just gotten out of the metro station when he heard sirens. At first, he really wasn't bothered, after all, this was _Delhi_, a city that had a ridiculous crime rate. 'Not that Mumbai is any different.' He thought. However, what started to unsettle him was the screams. And it was coming from the intersection near the Convention center. Arjun's soldier instincts kicked in, and he started running. The lack of a 30 Kgs battle load made Arjun's speed really quick, and he easily slid on the car bonnets whenever they came in his way. He easily ran opposite the fleeing crowd. However, he soon came to a stop with his mouth hanging open in shock.

Nothing, absolutely nothing in Arjun's military career could prepare him for the scene he was currently witnessing. It was… a bloodbath. And the only questions going in his mind was, 'Who are these people? How the hell did an enemy force get so deep in Indian soil without anybody noticing?' However, Arjun snapped himself away from those questions, as right now he had to defend the city and its people. 'Shoot first. Ask questions later.' He thought.

He turned and saw a terrified woman who was kneeling and covering her ears. Arjun quickly ran towards her.

"Ma'am, You can't stay here!" Arjun exclaimed while extending his hand towards her.

The obviously still terrified woman looked up at him and flinched. "W-Who are you?!"

"Indian Army Special Forces!" Arjun replied. "Now get up!"

The woman immediately took his hand with her face having relief written over it. Both of them started fleeing the scene, when Arjun saw a lone police officer to his left, defending a group of children from a wyvern. Arjun could clearly see the fear in the police officer and the children's eyes as the police officer tried shooting his standard issue Pistol Auto 9mm 1A. Arjun knew the gun, as he had used it himself at the start of his Special Forces career before upgrading himself to a Beretta 92. While the first 11 shots of the police officer's pistol only bounced of the wyvern's scale, the 12th shot hit the wyvern in the eye and it bucked its rider off it.

The officer and the children had relief etched on their faces until the rider got up, drew a dagger and charged at the group. This time, however, he was met with an elbow crashing the side of his face, courtesy of Arjun, and fell to the ground. While initially shocked, the rider got up and charged again. Arjun calmly stayed in his position and just dodged the dagger while his right hand caught it, and plunged the blade deep in the rider's neck without hesitation. The blood that spurted soon covered Arjun's clothes, however, Arjun wasn't done yet. He calmly extracted the blade and plunged it into the rider's eyes, before stabbing him through the skull. The blood that came out sprayed all over Arjun, giving him a rather demonic look. For Arjun though, this was a usual day in the office. There was a reason why terrorists, insurgents, and separatist groups called him a "Demon", which was surprisingly also his callsign.

The officer, the woman, and the children were shocked to see their savior end a life so casually. Not that he blamed them.

"What the hell is this?" The officer asked. Arjun noted the man's age and build. 'A semi-veteran.' Arjun thought as this made his job a bit easier.

"Calm down, officer. My name's Arjun Khare and I'm a Captain in the Indian Army." His statement made the children widen their eyes in awe, and the police officer to give him an immediate crisp salute.

"I need you to take these civilians to safety and call in the SWAT unit and the army. Tell them this place is FUBAR*, they'll understand." Arjun calmly ordered as he picked up a sidearm, a few magazines, and a walkie-talkie from a nearby fallen police officer.

"Yes, sir!" The police officer saluted again but asked. "But what will you do sir?"

Before Arjun answered the question, he dodged a strike from a Roman-esqe soldier behind him. He then proceeded to trip that soldier before calmly shooting him on the back of his head. "I'm going to call the cavalry. Now scram."

With a nod, the officer took the civilians to safety as Arjun got into a position that gave him good cover. He took out his phone and dialed a number. The phone picked up.

"This is an emergency military channel, please end this-"

"Captain Arjun Khare, Indian Army, Commander of the 3rd Platoon of the 21st Battalion, Parachute Regiment Special Forces, the serial number is 98-666-121! Patch me to the Western Command Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Air Marshal Sumit Bhagat, now!" Arjun ordered as he shot a bullet straight between an orc's eyes and it dropped dead.

* * *

**Indian Air Force Western Command Headquarters, New Delhi.**

Today was just supposed to be a routine day in the office for the people working at the IAF's Western Command HQ. Air Marshal Sumit Bhagat was having his coffee while going through the paperwork that dealt with the logistics required for the Army boys up in the Siachen Glacier, the place dubbed as the "Coldest Battlefield on Earth".

He was making some notes when a group of people burst in through the door and started babbling in high volumes. The Air Marshal already started losing his patience. "Enough! Quiet down, all of you!" He yelled. "One person, speak."

"Sir." One of the men said. "We just received a priority call from Downtown. A Captain Arjun Khare, Indian Army Para SF, has requested immediate troop deployment within the National Capital Region. He says we're under attack by hostile forces!"

"What?!" The Air Marshal asked with wide eyes and looked through the window to see plumes of smoke rising across the city. It made his blood run cold. "Patch me through to him!" He ran to the situation room and opened a link with the Special Forces member. "Captain Khare, this is Air Marshal Bhagat. What the hell is going on?" Everyone in the situation room and the surrounding offices were absolutely quiet.

"Sir, you need to send in reinforcements now! There is a large presence of hostile forces, that appeared literally out of nowhere. They made contact with our civilians near the site of Delhi Comic-Con and their numbers are slowly pushing us back. It won't be long before we will have to start a street battle in Lutyens'."

The Air Marshal didn't need to validate the soldier's story as just in front of them, every Indian and International news channel were reporting this issue. While there were no images yet, he didn't need those for confirmation. Suddenly the landline rang and he took the receiver. "Yes, sir." The Air Marshal said as instructions started coming in. "Very well, sir. Of course." The Air Marshal put the receiver down with a click.

"Sound the general alert. I want every attack aircraft in the Northern Air Command in the air ASAP. Clear the air and re-establish air superiority over our skies. After that, the transport aircraft will be ready to drop troops. Attack aircraft will meanwhile provide ground cover for our group fighting these belligerents. The government has just ordered the Indian Airspace to be shut. No civilian plane leaves or enters now. All civilian planes in the air will be forced to land at the nearest airport. We also have orders to shoot down any plane that doesn't comply." The Air Marshal ordered. While his tone was calm, every person in the room knew, the man was extremely furious on such an oversight occurring, in his backyard no less.

Meanwhile, in every civilian airport, passengers looked on in surprise as all the flights that were listed suddenly got canceled. Even the flights that were boarding passengers were listed as canceled. Suffice to say, many people were _very_ unhappy about this.

* * *

**5 minutes later. Sirsa Air Force Station. The Indian state of Haryana.**

Every single member of the No. 21 Squadron IAF were running to their Sukhoi Su-30MKI's in full gear as the alarm had started blaring. Their planes were already loaded with their weapons and fully stocked on fuel.

As every jet of the squadron started making their way to the runway, instructions of the Base Commander came into their comm devices.

"Gentlemen. Our National Capital is under attack. This is not a drill. Hostile forces are only a few clicks away from Connaught Place. Your orders are simple. Clear the skies of all hostile air units. The AH-64 Apaches, the Mil Mi-35, and the HAL Rudra Attack Helicopters will support the units on the ground. Meanwhile, the Chinooks Mil Mi-8, the Mil Mi-17, and the Mil Mi-26 Transport Helicopters will be bringing in the Garud and the NSG Commandos. Gentlemen, the safety of our men coming in by those transport helicopters depends on the success of your mission. Show these hostiles no mercy." The Base Commander ordered. He was replied with a chorus of "YES SIR!" as every Sukhoi Su-30MKI started taking off from the runway.

* * *

**On the Battlefield. 15 minutes later.**

"Ammo check!" Arjun called. He had managed to organize the remaining police officers to form a defensive line, as they provided cover for civilians. Luckily, they were joined in by the Delhi Police SWAT Teams and the Central Reserve Police Force. That was 22 minutes ago. Right now, however, they were exhausting ammo and would soon be overrun if help didn't arrive.

"I'm running low on ammo here!" A SWAT member called.

"Same here! There are too many of them!"

Arjun also noticed that he was down to his last mag and cursed. However, before he could order a retreat, a familiar sound could be heard.

"All friendly units on this frequency, this is Guardian Angel 1-1. Keep your heads down. Y'all are gonna see more explosions than what is normally seen in a Michael Bay movie." A second later, the wyvern and its rider that was tormenting them were blown up in a fiery explosion. Arjun and the remaining police officers looked up to see one of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI's rapidly gaining its altitude. This was followed by familiar sounds of helicopter gunships' gatling gun that started raining red hot bullets on the invaders and tore them into shreds even though they raised their shields which now had holes in it, to make it look as if they were just paper mâche. Not long after, the skies of New Delhi was swarming with Indian Air Assets that were brutally cutting down any and all of the enemies air assets.

Soon enough, one Chinook and Mil Mi-26 transport helicopters started hovering and soldiers started dropping from them by the use of ropes. Arjun noticed their uniforms. Jet Black and camouflage greens. 'I guess Christmas is early. The NSG's and the Garud commandos, hell yeah!' Arjun thought happily. However, another Chinook came in and more soldiers dropped in. They wore the usual camouflage pattern. However, setting these guys apart was the Maroon Berets they were wearing. Obviously, Arjun recognized these guys, and he couldn't be happier. The Para SF had decided to come in to play as well. Of course, they recognized him and gave him a salute.

"Who's your CO here?" The Commando unit leader asked.

"Me." Arjun said. "Captain Arjun Khare, Para SF."

"One hell of a job here, sir." The Garud Commando said before saluting him. "I'm Flight Lieutenant Abhinav Dayal, sir." The NSG Commando Squadron Commander also gave him a salute, "Captain Pranav Sinha, sir."

"Damn, Demon. Looks like you went on a rampage over here." The leader of the Maroon Beret division said with an impressed look before introducing himself to the Garud and NSG forces. "Lokesh 'Scorpion' Nanda, Commander of the 2nd Platoon of the 9th Battalion, Para SF." On Arjun's look of askance, he simply replied, "We were on our way to Kashmir for COIN Ops**, when they diverted us here. Good decision, I say. Looks like you need help."

"You have no idea," Arjun replied to his brother-in-arms.

"Alright. There's anything we need to know" Scorpion asked.

"Enemy unit is primarily ground units. Had air units, but our Air Force just shredded them. They use overwhelming numbers to overrun positions. Me and the cops here did the best we could, but we only slowed them down." Arjun replied.

"Armaments?"

"They got swords to a gunfight." Came the short reply.

"Who does that?!" Flight LT Dayal exclaimed. "That is suicide."

"Bruh. Don't look at me. These clowns completely ruined my day!" Arjun replied.

"What were you doing here in Delhi anyway?" Scorpion asked. "Your family is in Mumbai, isn't it?"

"Delhi Comic Con godammit!" Arjun replied.

"Oh hell no!" Scorpion said. "Does anyone know where the hell did these clowns come from?"

"I do, sir." A Delhi Police officer came up to the soldiers and commandos. "We were organizing security at the Convention when we received reports of a strange structure suddenly appearing on the nearby road intersection. That could be how they got in."

"We should call in the big birds and pound their asses to fine dust." One of the Para SF members said, with the other commandos agreeing with him.

Even Scorpion agreed as he radioed in. "Scorpion 1 to Guardian Angel, how copy?"

"Guardian Angel copies loud and clear."

"Be advised, enemy position concentrated on the large intersection. Need you and the birds to hammer it."

"Scorpion, that is a major city artery. You sure you want us to do that?" Guardian Angel asked.

"Intel is confirmed. You will see a strange structure over there that may already have an enemy camp. That's all the proof you need." Scorpion replied.

"And if there are civilians?" Guardian Angel asked.

Every soldier on the frequency heard it. Regardless of their position or location. All of them saw a few women were stripped naked and were sprawled all over the streets. Men brutally butchered and children with dismembered limbs.

"… Guardian Angel, if there are any survivors in their hands… just make it quick. Don't let them suffer anymore. Scorpion out."

"What the hell do these people want?" The NSG Commander grit out.

"Hey, hey. Focus at the task at hand now Commando." Arjun ordered. "We will get our answers. Now, do we have armor coming in?" He asked.

"Tanks and Infantry Fighting Vehicles are entering the city as we speak. To avoid the traffic, the Chinooks are airlifting them. Two divisions are coming in from the North and South ends of the city. They're coming in hot and heavy. Birds will continue to rain fire to support us." Scorpion said with LT Dayal and Capt. Sinha nodding in agreement.

"Sounds like a plan. Now let's gut these fucking sons of bitches." Arjun 'Demon' Khare said as he switched the safety of an IWI TAR-21 Tavor Assault Rifle off and holstered a Beretta 92.

"HOOAH!"

* * *

Arjun didn't know for how long they had been fighting but they were making a lot of progress. With proper pieces of equipment, that included choppers and 2 armored units, they had more than enough muscle to push the invaders back.

Arjun wouldn't lie, because he was really proud of the Delhi Police's actions today. Sure they would usually get a lot of flak for many things, but today, they proved their mettle. The only drawback for them was, that they were not trained for this. Frankly, none of them were. It's not like during situation training their instructor would ask them what to do, if a Roman-esque army appeared out of nowhere and started butchering people.

However, there were many more emotions driving the Indian Armed Forces. Mainly, it was rage. The Indian Armed Forces had a reputation of being a very strong army and were ranked as the 4th strongest in the world, behind the United States, Russia, and China. They were also seen in a very positive light on the international stage, mainly because of their actions during UN Peacekeeping Missions. They wouldn't go looking for fights, but God help you if you picked a fight with them. And the other world invaders did just that and worse. They brutally attacked the civilians and the non-combatants. The carnage that Arjun and his group saw, was nothing sort of sickening and none of the soldiers or commandos wanted to even think, of what the mounting death toll would be.

The enemy tried to escape back through the structure, but the Indian soldiers, had set up and ambush point in the surrounding buildings and immediately started raining down fire on them. They were supported by the Helicopter gunships, IFV and tanks.

All those who survived, which included the commander of this invasion force, were brutally pinned down by the special forces team and arrested as Prisoners of War. The commander who expected the proper a treatment as a man in his position was entitled to, was knocked out by the butt of a rifle.

"High Command, this is Scorpion. We've secured the structure. Hostile forces neutralized. For the love of God, please get these people some help."

* * *

**1430 hrs. Rashtrapati Bhavan. (_Presidential House_) Rajpath. New Delhi.**

"What is the situation now, General?" The President of the Republic of India and also the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces asked the General of the Indian Army.

"The main forces of these hostiles have been eliminated, Mr. President. The Army and Delhi Police are now hunting down a few stragglers around the area. The Indian Air Space is still closed and all commercial flights within have been grounded. The only planes that are flying now are those of the Indian Air Force, and the planes from the two aircraft carriers, INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya of the Indian Navy. All of these planes are being fueled mid-air regularly. The entire city is on lockdown now. No one can get in and out of the city. Also, all of our forces on the borders have been put on High Alert. It's the same with every police force and SWAT team as well. Under the Governor's orders, the state of Maharashtra has already mobilized their Commando unit, Force One, and they will be ready to move at a moment's notice from their base in Alibaug if required." The General replied.

"What about the Government?" The President asked.

"A Cabinet meeting is being held right now. The opposition in the Parliament is already clamoring for answers. It's controlled chaos, sir." The General replied again.

"What is the… death toll?"

"We don't have a number yet, but it is definitely in the three or four digit numbers." The General gave the bad bad news.

With a long sigh, the President massaged his temple, before taking up his role as the Commander-in-Chief. "Continue whatever you have been doing. Have the armed forces help the National Disaster Response Force and set up medical tents for the injured. Meanwhile, have a team of Army engineers, seal that godforsaken structure with eyes in it. Use every night vision surveillance equipment you have to make sure we know if there is something coming. You are dismissed."

"Yes sir, Mr. President." The General said while giving the President a salute and walking out of his office.

The President meanwhile took a much-needed drink of water. His head was racing miles a minute. He knew that the next 24-48 hours were crucial. For what he couldn't think of, but it was. He finally got his thoughts together and called the Prime Minister's Office. It was the PM's secretary that picked it up.

"Tell the Prime Minister that he and the Minister of Defense are to give me an answer from today's emergency Cabinet meeting." After saying his piece, the President cut the call. He knew the PM's Secretary will do his job. The only thing he could do now is wait.

* * *

**Characters Introduced/Mentioned.**

Captain Arjun 'Demon" Khare. Indian Army. Commander of the 3rd Division of the 21st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (Special Forces).

2nd Lieutenant Youji "Otaku" Itami. Japanese Self Defense Force. Formerly Japanese Special Forces and Ranger Operative

Staff Sergeant Derek "Frost" Westbrook. United States Army. Delta Force.

Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley. British Army. British Special Air Service (SAS).

Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson. British Army. British Special Air Service (SAS).

Captain John Price. British Army. British Special Air Service (SAS).

Air Marshal Sumit Bhagat. Western Command Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

Flight Lieutenant Abhinav Dayal. Indian Air Force. Garud Commandos.

Captain Pranav Sinha. Indian National Security Guard Commandos a.k.a. The Black Cats. Squadron Commander.

Captain Lokesh "Scorpion" Nanda. Indian Army. Commander of the 2nd Division of the 9th Battalion, Parachute Regiment (Special Forces).

* * *

*FUBAR:- Fucked up beyond all recognition

**COIN Ops:- Counter Insurgency Operations.

* * *

_AN- Hey y'all. This thing was in my mind, and I had to write it down. Tell me what you think._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: When the Boogeyman and the Wolf hunt together**

_Author's Note: Before we begin, I would just like to say, that I have changed the name of the ranks of the Indian Army. Now hear me out. The Indian Subcontinent has unique names for its Army ranks, especially the ranks of the Officers who are basically not Commissioned Officers. This includes, Junior Commissioned Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and "Other Ranks". Therefore, to save the time of my readers into looking into what I mean using a rank, I have listed them down below._

_Commissioned Ranks_

_Field Marshal (Ceremonial Rank) (FM)_

_General (Gen)_

_Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen)_

_Major General (Maj Gen)_

_Brigadier (Brig)_

_Colonel (Col)_

_Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col)_

_Major (Maj)_

_Captain (Capt)_

_First Lieutenant (1Lt)_

_Second Lieutenant* (2Lt)_

_You might have seen the star next to Second Lieutenant. I'll tell you why. Basically, the Indian Army has discontinued the use the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Army. I couldn't find any official reasons for it, but you guys can check it out on the Internet. However, long story short, I will be using this rank in my story (Remember, this is fiction. I don't want people getting offended for no rhyme or reason)._

_Now onto the __Other Ranks__ in my story along with their Real Life ranks._

_Warrant Officer 1st Class (WO1) == Subedar Major _

_Warrant Officer 2nd Class (WO2) == Subedar_

_Staff Sergeant (S/Sgt.) == Naib Subedar_

_Sergeant (Sgt.) == Havildar_

_Corporal (Cpl.) == Naik_

_Lance Corporal (L/Cpl.) == Lance Naik_

_Private (Pte.) == Sepoy_

_The ranks have been taken from the British Army's Wikipedia Page, as I thought Great Britain's structure would be the most closest to India (Which it was). Therefore I'll be using the Ranks on the left side, instead of the original Indian ranks on the right. If you wanna ask me why, you can do so in the comments and I will tell you why._

* * *

The immediate aftermath of the attack was very obvious. Confusion and mass panic. There were rumors being spread that these invaders were everywhere, but a quick response from the Armed Forces and every State Government put those rumors to rest. The Bombay Stock Exchange almost collapsed, and trading was suspended after the Indian Government bought all the stocks to keep companies floating and to prevent financial panic and hysteria.

All the surviving invaders that had been arrested were thoroughly questioned by the Army and RAW (Research & Analysis Wing). The Prime Minister got an answer for their motives, and would honestly be lying if he was not furious himself. The fact that the reason for these invaders to mercilessly attack everyone on sight was just because "they can"… Well, suffice to say no one in Parliament or the country was very happy about this and the clamor for retribution was loud.

RAW had also managed to learn their origins. These soldiers were of a Saderan Empire, from the continent of Falmart. Apparently, the customs, politics, government, etc. of these Saderans were reminiscent of the Roman Empire at its peak. It didn't take long for RAW to extract even more intelligence of other issues, such as their diplomatic relations among other things.

Arjun meanwhile, was given an immediate leave from his CO after receiving a Commendation from the Army Chief of Staff and a promotion to the rank of Major for showing exceptional valor, bravery and courage in a hostile zone, even though he was off duty.

In the International stage though, the United Nations Security Council had convened for an emergency meeting about this issue. This time, both India and Pakistan, were on the Council as Non-Permamanent members. Pakistan was the loudest in demanding that the Gate be bought under the jurisdiction of the UN. This was seconded by China, who asked that the "exploration" should be spearheaded by the People's Liberation Army and the Pakistani Army.

In reply, the Indian Diplomat simply replied, "Hell no. That Gate is firmly in Indian territory, not in any of the disputed regions. Furthermore, it would be a cold day in hell before India or her people will just allow Foreign military personnel to set even a foot in Indian soil. And yes, no one in my country is very happy right now. So I suggest none of the country's present in this meeting try any stunts. Or misadventures. It won't be tolerated."

When it came to the vote, the United States, Russia, Great Britain, and France voted against the joint resolution of Pakistan and China. This was combined with the remaining 8 non-permanent members also voting against this resolution. Ultimately, it was decided that, if the situation in the other side of the Gate turned into a situation like the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, only then would an International Taskforce be sent in.

* * *

**Three weeks later. 8th September, 20XX. Arjun's House. Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.**

"BOO!" A small figure cried. The figure was dressed in a pink T-shirt and pajamas. Covering the figure's face was an authentic Japanese Oni mask.

"Kyah! I'm so scared! The monster has caught me!" Arjun said in the most monotone voice he could muster while sitting on the couch and continue to avoid the little figure as he played on his Play Station 5. "Honestly, ever since I came back from Delhi, little evil spirits have been haunting me. Did I make some God angry with my actions?"

"How rude!" The little figure said loudly while ripping the mask off their face to reveal the face of a little girl, whose face right now had an expression of childlike anger. "Your 5-year-old niece should not be called an 'evil little spirit'!" The girl said with a pout that tried to show her anger but only succeeded in making her look more adorable.

"Yeah yeah," Arjun said while not even looking at his niece. "Run along now, kid. Your uncle's busy."

"Muuu… Aunty!" The little girl cried. "Uncle Arjun is ignoring me again!"

A brown haired woman's head peeked out from the kitchen. She was wearing a tank top that loosely covered her upper body and a very short and tight pair of jean shorts in her lower body. The woman frowned before calling, "Arjun, stop tormenting your niece."

"No," Arjun replied stubbornly. "It's too much fun."

"Uncle Arjun… is always… mean to me." The little girl said as she started sniffling.

"Shush honey, it's okay. You know how your uncle is." The woman said as she kneeled down to pacify the girl before growling, "Arjun…"

"Yikes," Arjun said as he shivered. "Sorry, Karishma. Uncle's sorry."

"Promise?" Karishma, the little girl, asked.

Arjun paused his game, put down his controller, looked at his niece and gave her a smile as he said, "Promise. You wanna go out with me and Aunty? Watch a movie?"

"Yes!" Karishma said with a smile and ran to her room to start getting ready. Arjun went back to his game, while the woman stalked to him and gave him a hug. She made sure to turn him on by pressing her breasts on his upper back.

"Anjali, are you trying to tempt me?" Arjun asked with a coy smile.

"Hm. And if I was?" The woman, Anjali asked back with a coy smile of her own.

"Well then, guess we won't be sleeping for another night then, will we?" Arjun replied.

"Oh yes," Anjali said in a sultry voice as she kissed his temple.

The intimate moment was interrupted when Arjun's landline telephone started ringing. Arjun immediately got up and saw the time was only 10:30 in the morning as he picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" Arjun said.

"Major Arjun Khare. This is Colonel Abhinav Singhania."

"Sir." Arjun immediately stiffened into attention.

"You're vacation period is over, son. A vehicle will be coming to pick you up in 24 hours and take you to a waiting bird at Juhu. We got work. Understood?"

Arjun took a deep breath as he knew very well what this meant. His vacation is indeed over. Furthermore, this meant that the higher-ups have finalized the plans for the invasion. Well, he did take an oath to defend the country from all threats, no matter what or when. Therefore, he only had one answer.

"Roger that, sir."

* * *

**A week later. En-Route to Site Alpha.**

En route to the location of the GATE and the primary staging area of the Indian invasion force, two Chinook Transport Helicopters from the No. 117 Helicopter Unit a.k.a. the Himalayan Dragons cruised fast and low.

As the pilots flew towards their destination, their passengers sat in silence in the cabin. They were not ordinary soldiers. They were members of the 21st Battalion 3rd Platoon of the PARA SF, and for this mission, was renamed Task Force Wolfpack. The total number of people in this group were 24 soldiers armed to the teeth, with the latest military tech and weaponry, and would be a vanguard for the Indian invasion force.

In the lead helicopter, First Lieutenant Daya Divekar, the Second in Command of the 21st Battalion 3rd Division, sat in silence but deep down he was nervous as whack. After all, they were being sent into a new world, literally. He looked around, to see what were his colleagues doing and saw them doing whatever they could to keep themselves calm.

Some were reading books, some rechecked their gear, while some were just doing anything to keep their minds of the stress this mission would induce.

Divekar then turned to look at the man in front of him. His boss, the newly promoted Major, and the youngest commander in their battalion. Major Arjun "Demon" Khare. Maj. Arjun was sitting in absolute silence, with his assault rifle gripped loosely in his hands and his head tilted downwards to make it look like he was taking a quick nap. And for all the Lieutenant knew, he easily could be. After all, it's not like he could see his Commander's expressions as he was wearing that intimidating black and white skull balaclava and the black tactical goggles. Divekar always wondered how his boss could pull off such an intimidating appearance.

'Well, that's a thought for another time.' Divekar thought and sat back on his chair and watched the scenery from the window. Their mission was to secure the immediate area in preparation of the invasion force and makes sure no one on the other side finds out.

Straightforward, like all of their missions. But very dangerous, this time around, not like their other missions were any less dangerous. If things went south, Wolfpack would be completely on their own with no hopes of reinforcements. Thus, it was very important for them to not screw it up, or they wouldn't even live to regret it.

The two helicopters were only 5 minutes out, but they already entered into the no-fly zone for civilian aircraft and started seeing personnel, combat vehicles and tons of supplies. They became more densely packed, the closer they got. In the middle of all of this was that honestly, ridiculous, structure. The Gate was surrounded on all sides by hundreds of soldiers armed with heavy machine guns, explosives, and even a few rocket launchers. It was fenced off with barbed electrical wires of a very high voltage and entombed within five feet of thick concrete and steel.

"Command, this is Sparrow 5-1, We're 500 meters away. Requesting permission to land. Over."

"Sparrow 5-1, you are cleared to land. Over."

"Roger that."

The chinooks soon began their descent into the makeshift heliports that were constructed. Over there, waiting for their arrival was none other than the teams' CO, Col. Singhania.

Once the helicopters safely landed on the ground, Maj. Arjun, or from now on, Demon, ordered everyone to disembark before he opened the cabin doors. The men quickly got out with their heads down and got a safe distance away from the helicopters before they took off again, their mission done.

The 24 men stood at full height and made their way to the Colonel. "Gentlemen." He said. "Welcome to Site Alpha. C'mon, we got a drive ahead of us." With that, he led the group to a convoy of five Tata Motors' Light Armoured Multipurpose Vehicle (LAMV). After entering the vehicle, the colonel ordered the convoy to proceed to the Gate.

"Any updates from the other side, sir?" Demon asked.

Col. Singhania looked at the man before pulling out the tablet and handing it to him. Divekar, who was sitting next to him, also leaned in to see. The soldiers in the other vehicles also had the intel and had their comms synced up.

"Six hours ago, our drones picked up a large heat signature about four clicks North of the Gate on the other side."

Everyone continued studying the intel when Demon asked, "Possible enemy camps?" He received an affirmative nod from the Colonel.

"We think so. They're probably there to report any incursions. We estimate that there are about twenty personnel, maybe more. You guys will have to take care of them before you do anything else."

"Have they moved from their positions, sir?" Staff Sergeant Karan Singh Chandok asked over the comms.

"No. Looks like they made camp there so they might be sleeping at this time with a few on sentry duty."

"Have any of those mages been spotted. sir?" 1LT Divekar asked as he studied the image.

"We don't know, as the ones we've captured doesn't even look close to a Dumbledore or a Gandalf, but I won't disregard it. They may be wearing different clothing or don't need wands and the such."

Divekar nodded, as he handed the tablet to another soldier, so he could study the image properly. "Lucky for us they didn't look up. Nobody ever thinks to look up or down until it's too late."

"No shit." The Colonel agreed before turning to Demon. "Primary objective is to take out the enemy camp and set up shops at the designated vantage points. If possible, capture the commander/s of that group and send him back here. RAW will do the needful in interrogating him. However, that's second priority."

"You don't want us to capture a mage?" Demon asked.

"Can't risk it Major. Not until we have a deeper understanding of their abilities and how we counter them. For now, terminate any mage you come across." Demon nodded. "Understood."

"Any more questions?" The colonel asked. There was no reply. "Good."

For the remainder of the trip, everyone sat in silence. They just reviewed the information they had received and what to do in hypothetical situations. They passed numerous checkpoints, which had become much stricter as they passed until they reached their destination. Col. Singhania accompanied his men until they reached the last checkpoint before the Gate.

"This is as far as I can go." He said before turning to them all: The best of the best the Indian Armed Forces had to offer. A junior officer came and handed the Colonel a bag that contained a special hard lined relay device and handed it to Hawkeye. "This is a special comms relay. We can't receive transmissions past a certain distance. You'll need to install it there so we can communicate."

Hawkeye nodded as he took the device and handed it to Staff Sergeant Karim Sheikh, their communications and Engineering specialist.

"Good luck. All of you." The Colonel said before departing to the command center.

Demon rolled his shoulders and did one last check of his equipment, before saying, "Alright boys, we moving out." With that, the 24-man team made their way through the last checkpoint and towards the Gate.

They reached the electrical barbed wire that was deactivated to let them through. When they were 15 meters away, Demon motioned the unit to halt.

"Warlord, this is Wolfpack Actual. Ready to proceed. Requesting permission to enter the Gate. Over." He then ordered everyone to ready their weapons just in case. The other soldiers manning the heavy machine guns also did the same.

"Roger that, Wolfpack Actual."

While nothing happened for the first few seconds, loud alarms then started blaring from the structure as the doors began opening wider and wider until it was completely opened. Task Force Wolfpack was already pointing their weapons, just in case someone or something would jump at them. However, they were only met with darkness.

"Flashlights," Demon ordered. The team immediately switched on the flashlights attached to their Tavor Assault Rifles. "Warlord, we're going in."

"Copy. Godspeed boys." With that, the 24 man team of Task Force Wolfpack cautiously entered the Gate.

Once they were inside the Gate and moved deeper into the passageway, some members couldn't help but being a bit freaked out. "Yo, isn't this kinda strange? If y'all catch my drift?". Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ganesh Acharya asked.

"No kidding." 1LT Divekar mumbled. They all knew it would be some weird stuff, but none of them knew to was this freaky.

They kinda hoped it would be like an instantaneous thing, not walking in an abyss. Even though the team had read the data provided by the drone which listed the length of this tunnel.

The team had lost track of how long they had been traversing the Gate. Being ambushed by some weird shadow monster would honestly be a shitty way to die. Maj. Arjun knew Scorpion would never let him hear the end of it. The Teams' individual thoughts were interrupted when one of the soldiers said that he could see some light at the end of the passageway. Demon ordered them to keep low and prepare for possible contact after which, with a renewed vigor, Task Force Wolfpack jogged to the end as they just wanted to get out of the claustrophobic inducing passageway. They all may be some tough SOB's, but this Gate's passageway was creepy, even by their standards. Considering, all of them have seen creepy and gory shit throughout the course of their careers.

At the threshold, Demon ordered Divekar and half the team to go the other side of the Gate. He then held his fist up and the troops stopped before he gave them a signal to lay low.

Demon and Divekar carefully peered out of the Gate, looking for any signs of hostiles in the area with their thermal optics. "Clear." Demon said. "Clear." Divekar seconded. "Karim, install that relay once we've secured the perimeter."

"Wilco."

Cautiously, Demon and Divekar led the men through the threshold and into the continent of Falmart, and on this day, history was made. Not only for India, but also for the entire world back home. They were the first humans of Earth to ever set foot in an alien world.

"I think I can now understand what Neil Armstrong meant when he said, 'A small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind'." Demon said with everyone agreeing with him. "Though the circumstances are quite different from what that famous astronaut had experienced."

While S/Sgt. Sheikh set up the comms relay, the rest of the Task Force had secured the perimeter and kept a sharp eye on anything that moved. While there was nothing to report, they still remained vigilant. Even though the commandos knew they were in enemy territory, they couldn't help but admire the view, the new land had to offer. The sky was clear and illuminated with thousands of stars. The air smelled _much_ cleaner and refreshing than the smoke-clogged air of New Delhi, and they just knew that the landscape was definitely breathtaking if seen during the daytime. Demon was reminded of the tour of the European countryside he had gone on with his then French girlfriend back when he was in University. 'I wonder how's Nicole doing?' Demon idly thought as he momentarily remembered his ex-girlfriend.

"Comms relay secured and online." S/Sgt. Sheikh said after a few minutes of work before he took up his position behind one of the pillars.

Demon nodded and attempts to establish contact. "Wolfpack to Warlord, do you receive? Over." Nothing but static. Demon tried again. "Wolfpack to Warlord, are you receiving? Over."

"Wo-fp-ck -s i- War-lo-. w- re-d you loud and clear. Good to hear from you." The men allowed themselves a moment of relief while Demon gave a fistbump to S/Sgt. Sheikh for a job well done.

"Warlord, we've successfully crossed over and secured a perimeter. No activity to report. Moving on to Phase 2."

"Understood."

Demon let go of his comm device and turned to S/Sgt. Chandok. "Deploy the drone."

"Gotcha, boss." S/Sgt. Chandok took off his pack fished out the indigenous made Nightmare Valkyrie Drone. A portable reconnaissance drones equipped with the latest surveillance tech, allowing soldiers to have a real-time bird's eye view of the battlefield.

S/Sgt. Chandok deployed the drone and started controlling it with a specialized computer tablet. The drone rose to a height of 1000 feet before beginning to survey the area. "Drone's live. Getting a clear picture of the area."

Demon nodded. "Warlord, the drone's in the air. Prepare for the live video feed. Over."

"Roger that. Standing by."

"Chandok, sync up to Warlord."

The man nodded and began to make the connection. After a few seconds, the process was complete. "Done. The feed should be coming their way."

"Solid copy on that feed, team."

Demon and 1LT Divekar went to the man's position and looked at the surveillance feed. The drone had started scanning on a ten-mile radius. Everything was clear, save for a few small heat signatures that were perhaps local fauna. Demon, however, thought that he had just seen one of them have a human form. He quickly disregarded that theory though. After two minutes, they got a hit. 4 kilometers up north of their position. The thermal images had shown 30 hostiles. The intel was correct.

A terrain map that was quickly pulled up, saw them at the foot of a small hill which was surrounded by shrubbery on two sides. The team decided to use the vegetation as cover for movements and go around the back of the camp.

Demon pointed at three small ridges about a hundred meters from the camp in the North, North-West, and North-East. WO2 Acharya, S/Sgt. Sheikh and 1LT Divekar would be the snipers while three, two-man teams would infiltrate and kill everybody in the camp. The rest would be on guard duty (making sure no one goes in or out) and Chandok would be everyone's eyes and ears, and the rest would stay around the camp's perimeter to make sure no one leaves or enters.

* * *

**Saderan Encampment. Four Kilometers from the Gate.**

A soldier of the Saderan Empire, Greyas Del Punto, had just finished sentry duty and made his way to the center of the camp for something to eat and drink before he retired for the night. He had joined the army three years ago because he had no way to support his growing family. As they had no money, and his wife was pregnant, the couple didn't know what they would do until an Imperial Envoy came to his village calling for all able-bodied men to be conscripted into the army, as the Empire was about to launch an offensive against the Warrior Bunny tribes. He enlisted after he convinced his wife, that this was the only way he saw them earning any money for the family. While initially against it, his wife relented seeing that they had no other choice. Now, after three years, he became an official soldier instead of just a conscript, which saw a stable income flow to his family which included his beautiful wife and two lovely daughters.

The other soldiers greeted Greyas when he reached the campfire. One of the men handed him a loaf of bread, cooked meat and a pouch of water. The other soldiers continued discussing the matter of the Gate, and how of the 80,000 men strong force sent in, only a few hundred managed to come back and only told of some fantastic and unbelievable nonsense of steel elephants, steel dragons, mages, and demons. No one really believed them because after all, they were the Imperial Army. They were the best army in the Continent of Falmart. No one could ever beat them.

Greyas meanwhile finished his meal and bade his comrades a good night, as he made his way to his tent. He fished out a letter from his pocket, that was addressed to his wife and quickly read through it with a small smile. However, he soon noticed a soldier on sentry duty. Sleeping.

Shaking his head with a huff, Greyas decided to wake the man up, while being careful to not disturb his sleeping comrades. "_Hey, wake up! You should know better than to sleep on sentry duty. Wake up before someone sees you._" Greyas shook the man harder but the poor chap actually fell to the ground on his face.

'_Fellow's knocked out cold_'. Greyas thought, as he kneeled to pick him up while mumbling, "_I'm really not paid enough to deal with this shit._" Greyas' hand had gone to the underside of the guard to face him when he felt something wet. He turned him around only to watch in horror as the guard's throat was slit open and his eyes were wide with fear. Greyas stumbled back, frightened himself. He took a breath in to yell.

"_In-_" was the only thing he could say before he felt a clothed hand clamping his mouth and dragging him in the nearby bushes. In the bushes, Greyas tried to escape but suddenly felt his neck being torn open. He tried wheezing to breath, but couldn't because his trachea and carotid artery had been severed and was already losing his blood.

He felt fear grip him when he saw his killers face. More accurately, the lack of faces. The only thing he saw were two pairs of eerie green eyes. The one who had just stabbed him, however, had a face. It was a skull. "_Hardy's demons…_" Greyas murmured through the hand that covered his mouth before he slumped to the ground and departed the mortal realm. His last thoughts being of his family he had just left behind.

* * *

After hiding the body, Demon searched the body for any useful information. He found a parchment that had a letter written in it. The parchment was stored away as intel.

"Alpha Point, clear." Demon reported

"This is Team 2. Bravo Point is secured."

"Team 3. Positive on Charlie Point. Waiting for the green light. Over."

"Roger that." Demon acknowledged. "Chandok, got anything?"

"Negative, sir. Drone's not picking up any activity. We're still undetected." S/Sgt. Chandok said from his position at one of the ridges, with a sniper team. "You have execute authority. Happy hunting."

"Solid copy. All units, green light. Move in." Now with the order given, the three two-man infiltrator teams began their work. Systematically killing every Saderan Empire soldier in their sleep.

While the three teams infiltrated and killed whoever was in the camp, the three sniper teams and Chandok remained on overwatch. The remains members of Wolfpack were spread out all over the outer perimeter as security and back up.

Demon and 2LT Harsh Kartik silently entered the first tent and found five hostiles in deep sleep. They died two at a time after being stabbed in the neck.

As they exited the tank, they heard voices coming their way and the two quickly took to cover. They saw six hostiles coming towards them. "Sniper teams, we have six hostiles coming our way. Do you have a shot?" Demon whispered.

"Negative. No clear shot."

Demon only gave a hum, as he had been in such situations before. "Let's wait and see if they separate." The two men waited in the shadows to see if they would split up. Which they did and began heading into the tents, with only two remaining. "Take the guy on the right." 2LT Kartik acknowledged the order and leveled his silenced Beretta 92 pistol on his target. "On my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark."

A few surpassed shots and the hostiles died instantly. With the threats dealt with, they resumed their game of playing _**Babayaga **_(Boogeyman).

After clearing their third tent, the pair started hearing shouts and the Saderan soldiers trying to wake their comrades. So the pair once again took to the shadows. "What's going on Chandok?"

"Heightened activity all over the camp, sir. I think they found some of the bodies. 'About damn time.' Demon thought before replying, "Roger. Keep us posted. We continue as planned. Snipers and Security teams, you see anyone making a run from it, you are cleared hot."

"Understood."

"Copy, boss."

"Roger that."

Demon nodded to 2LT Kartik and continued their hunt.

* * *

"_What the fuck is going on over here?!"_ The camp commander roared as he saw his men in a frenzy. The man was enjoying his beauty sleep, after ravaging his slave. A young Warrior Bunny that was given to him by the Crown Prince after the Empire's military campaign against the Warrior Bunny tribes.

"_M-Milord, we're under attack!"_ His second-in-command yelled frantically. The news made the Commander's eyes widen.

"_Bandits?"_

"_I don't think so, sir. Whoever the enemy is, they attacked us silently without any of us noticing. By the time we found the first body, more than half of the camp has already been killed!"_

'_H-Half…'_ The camp commander had to stop himself from falling. The only thing that came to his mind was assassins as this completely fit their MO, however, the Empire did not offend any of the Assassin guilds recently. _'Could it be…?'_ The commander thought as he looked towards the Gate. After all, it did make sense. Assassins from the other side were already here.

"_What do we do, sir?"_

"_Send a rider back to the Capital, Sadera. Inform them that the enemy has come. I shall rally the men."_

"_Y-You mean-"_ The second-in-command trembled.

"_NOW!" _The commander roared and the there man scurried to complete his orders.

Unknown to both the men was, that they were being watched.

* * *

"All units be advised. We have eyes on the enemy commander." Team 2's leader, Sergeant Kabir Singh reported as his teammate took aim. "There is also a woman in the bed."

"Do you have PID on the commander?" Demon asked.

"As the old saying goes, sir, 'Leaders love to point'. He's doing just that. Though he is also barking."

"Should I be offended by that statement, Sergeant?" Demon asked. Though everyone on the channel, even Warlord, knew he was just joking.

"Not at all, sir. If I have a problem, I will tell it to you directly sir. Just like you taught us." SGT. Singh said.

"Good. Capture that commander if possible. Otherwise, just terminate him. Leave the woman alone. I'll determine whether or not she's hostile." Demon ordered.

"Roger." With that, SGT. Singh and his teammate disappeared in the shadows again.

* * *

On the North-Eastern Ridge, Sniper Team 3 was observing the camp. The Saderans would try to find the interlopers but would lose men at every turn. It wouldn't be long until they were all dead.

Equipped with thermal optics, the snipers and their spotters had no trouble in seeing what was going on.

"Yo, I see something." S/Sgt. Chandok mumbled beside Sheikh on the radio. "Yep, three-foot mobiles with two horses, going North of the camp. Probably trying to escape."

All three snipers who had the entire camp in their site turned their attention to the North. Knowing that no one was allowed to live today, all three snipers took one shot each.

* * *

The riders mounted their horses as the second-in-command gave them a missive each. _"Make sure this gets to Sadera! Don't wait for anything!"_

They nodded but before they could spur their horses, the riders faces blew up simultaneously. The horses screamed in fright and ran away while the second-in-command just stared in horror. _'I did not even see what killed them! What is this?! Do the invaders have their own branch of assassination magic?"_

These were his last thoughts, as his head jolted back and he fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The look of shock was forever etched in his face which now had a gaping hole, the size of a grape, leaking red colored blood right between his eyes.

Those sudden deaths only fueled more panic and chaos to the remaining Saderan soldiers.

* * *

Twenty minutes after the Wolfpack began their hunt, the Saderan camp was devoid of life. They tried to put a decent defense to weed out the Indians but thanks to modern military tech, tactics, the environment, and the PARA SF's fear tactics, they were all hunted down to the last man.

In every corner, one or two Saderans would lose their lives, which made them even more jumpy and skittish. The ones who tried to escape in the wilderness were either picked off by the sniper teams or the security teams.

After everything was said and done, Demon ordered his men to rally at the center of the camp. "Good work, men. Sweep the camp. Find anything that could be even remotely useful. Move!"

"Yes, sir!" With that everyone started sweeping the camp except for Sgt. Singh.

"Sgt. Singh. I hope you have something for me." Demon said.

"Of course, sir. Please follow me." With that Sgt. Singh led his boss to the camp Commander's tent. The commander was tied up with a cloth covering his mouth.

"Sergeant, why are his shoulders bent in such a weird way?" Demon asked.

"I didn't like the way he was bastardizing Latin sir. And the girl." Sgt. Singh replied bluntly.

"Girl?" Demon asked. "I thought you said there was a woman."

"Yeah, but turns out it's a girl." The sergeant replied.

"Where is she?"

"Through that flap there. Be careful though, her physiology is a bit… different."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

Demon went through the flap and looked at the bed. It turns out his subordinate was right. It was a goddamn girl. A pretty thing for her age. The only thing that struck out about her ears. They were long and pointed upwards, like a rabbit. Demon went towards the girl who had a frightened expression on her face after she saw him.

"_Shh, shh, shh. It's okay. I won't hurt you."_ Demon said in the Saderan language, which honestly was bastardized Latin and Italian. Good thing he knew both so it wasn't hard for him to learn the new language.

The girl calmed down for a bit, however, her guard was still up and looked at him with wary eyes.

"_Can you tell me your name and age?"_ Demon asked.

"_Wh-Who are you?"_ The girl asked obviously frightened by Demon's appearance.

Demon recognized that his mask really wasn't helping matters so he slipped it off and gave her a smile. _I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to rescue you, okay? Now, can you tell me your name?"_

The girl finally calmed down after she realized that it was a human who was just wearing some weird clothing. She had heard the commotion happening outside.

"_My name is Gena. I-I'm 19."_ The girl, Gena, replied.

"_I see. Gena, I know this may seem weird, and please forgive me for asking this. But… what exactly are you?"_ Arjun asked.

"_A-Are you from the other side of the Gate?"_ Gena asked.

"_Yes. I am. Don't worry, my subordinate already gave me a probable reason for your presence in a military encampment. You have my word, nothing wrong will happen to you now. I promise."_ Arjun said.

"_I'm a Warrior Bunny. I was given to that man by the Imperial Crown Prince, Zorzal after the Empire ravaged my homeland. That vile man raped me and my mother… repeatedly, before I was just given away like some used thing."_ Near the end, the girl just started crying and even Arjun, who has stared death in the face so many times that his callsign came out of the fearsome reputation he carried among terrorists and even members of the Criminal Underworld, could feel his heart crack at the girl's plight. Therefore, he just took his hand and petted the crying girl. Just for a minute, Arjun was reminded of his niece and how she would cry sometimes when she missed her parents.

"_You're safe now," _Arjun said. _"Come on, let's go outside."_

* * *

Once everything was sent to command, Demon decided to call Warlord.

"Warlord, we've secured the camp and sent all viable intel. Also, we have rescued a civilian."

"Is it one of ours?"

"No. A local. She is ready to help us for the next three days and has valuable intel."

"What do you mean, Wolfpack Actual?"

"According to her, an Imperial Army consisting of 200, 000 soldiers will be trying to hit New Delhi again. The guys we slaughtered was the bloody recon team. The fact that they will not get any missive saying "everything is normal" will definitely send alarm bells ringing." Demon explained.

"I see. How long out are they?" Warlord asked.

"On normal stance, they are 5 days out. But on forced march, our local resident expert says, will definitely have them here in 3 days." Demon replied.

"Is your source positive?" Warlord asked.

"She's got no reason to lie to us, sir." Demon replied.

"What do you mean?" Warlord asked.

"Let's just say, she was in a very good position to obtain this intel." Demon said.

"So our boys need to be ready for combat immediately, right?" Warlord asked.

"That is correct, Warlord." Demon said.

"Very well. You have permission for using that local. Our Lt. Gen will meet her later when the force comes in. Now, proceed to Phase 3."

"Oh yeah, we also captured the commander, alive." Demon informed.

"A RAW Strike Team will have him extracted in 6 hours. Looks like you boys really wanted that bonus." Warlord said.

"Damn straight we did." Demon replied.

"Fine. Continue your mission."

"Roger. Wolfpack Actual out." Demon said.

"What do we do about the camp, sir?" 1LT Divekar asked.

"Let Mother Nature work her magic." Demon callously said. "Proceed to Phase 3." For three days, they were to stay hidden from view until the full might of the Indian invasion force came through.

The Warrior Bunny looked curiously at the damage the Special Forces team did to the camp and couldn't help but respect the foreign warriors. Apparently, it was only six men who wasted an entire camp of more than 25 men of the Imperial Army. She knew she made the right decision by sticking with them. That, and the man she left the camp commander's tent with was kinda good looking as well, when he wasn't wearing that scary mask, that is.

No one in Task Force Wolfpack knew they were being observed by none other than Rory Mercury, the Apostle of Emroy, the God of War and Madness, and she was very pleased with what she saw.

When she was walking the lands merrily, four weeks ago, she felt a change in the air. The change told her that this world would change, forever, and Rory knew her fellow Apostles felt it too. She had previously heard rumors that the Empire in all of its stupidity had stepped through the Gate and waged a war.

'_Looks like Hardy's bored again.'_ Rory had thought back then.

It was only when her Lord, Emroy himself, had visited her in her dream did she learn the truth. Hardy was bored and just wanted to cause some chaos. Emroy instructed his Apostle to observe the Otherworlders when they came.

Therefore, she was here. She could even feel Giselle, Hardy's Apostle, who might be here to observe and report on her Mistress's new pet project. And as long as she stayed away from Emroy's business Rory wouldn't lay even a finger on her.

She stayed in the same place for weeks. But today, no tonight, was when they came. They were few, but Rory felt it. They reeked of the stenches of war and that made her lick her lips. However, the one that caught her attention was the one in the lead. The one face, or skull, among all the faceless ones. This one radiated war. She decided to call him, Mr. Skull. In all the years she was alive, she never felt anything like that from anyone before. Mr. Skull was completely soaked in blood and war. She almost greeted him personally.

'_They have strange contraptions. Could their staves be their medium for battle magic?'_ Rory thought. She saw as the small contraption flew in the air and was also surprised with the skill and efficiency the entire group possessed.

Like wolves or tigers, they stalked the Saderans and quietly killed them all. All of them were perfectly coordinated and no one was injured, let alone killed. While it was a far cry from her way of just going Commando and slaughtering everyone while laughing hysterically, she did like the subtle approach. Carried a lot more suspense.

Emroy, who watched through her eyes was also quite pleased. He commented that if this is the opening act, he couldn't wait for the main event, i.e., the main army. Seeing that her task was completed, Emroy's Apostle, decided to leave to deal with a certain itch in a certain place.

'_Let's meet again, Mr. Skull.'_ She giggled in anticipation before heading North. What better way to sate her appetite than to hunt a few hundred bandits?

* * *

_AN: So, as you saw the 3rd Platoon of Para SF 21, was sent into action as Task Force Wolfpack. I also kinda gave a glimpse of Arjun's home life. How did you like his niece? Constructive criticism is always appreciated._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Indian Defense of Alnus Hill.**

**Alnus Hill. 3 days after Taskforce Wolfpack's hunt.**

Taskforce Wolfpack had remained in position for three days. Warlord had the camp commander extracted within 3 hours instead of the 6. Something they were all thankful for as the man was a real headache to deal with. Maj. Arjun was a few inches away from just killing him. Though to keep the man quiet, he did shoot him in the knees and then knock him out.

They had all seen the 200,000 strong army make camp just five mikes away from the hill that was called Alnus Hill. Information courtesy of their local informant, Gena. It was nighttime and nothing happened yet. Luckily, the team's wait wasn't for long as soon they could hear rumbling from the Gate and the first two Arjun Main Battle Tanks belonging to one of the 5 Armoured Divisions, crossed the Gate's threshold. Within 20 minutes, the entire invasion force had come in through the Gate. The Commander of the invasion force, Lieutenant General Vikram Patel, was the first to greet them.

"Good work for the past three days." The Lt. Gen said. "Now where is our mechanized, artillery and armored divisions' target practice dummies?"

Demon simply helped the man to get on top of a tank and gave him a pair of night vision binoculars. "Well damn." Lt. Gen. Patel said. "When did they get here, Major?"

"Around 8 hours ago, sir," Arjun replied. "The thing about force march is that they would be exhausted, and well, army beds really aren't the nicest."

"Indeed."

"And it looks like they have spotted us as well," Arjun said as torches started being lit on the enemy's side.

"Let me guess. It's those torches." Lt. Gen Patel said.

"Yes sir, it is. Their version of… night vision." Arjun replied.

"Alright Major, get everyone's attention." The Lt. Gen ordered. "Tell the armored, artillery and mechanized boys to rock and roll."

Arjun took his comm device and spoke in it. "All units be advised, we have a hostile army just five clicks away from us. They are well within your range. Armoured, Artillery and Mechanized infantry divisions, you have permission to rock and roll. Over."

"Roger that. Permission to rock and roll." Came the reply as the Tanks, IFV's and the Artillery canons started to mark the coordinates. 20 seconds later, the first salvo was fired. After a shrill whistle, a section of the Imperial Army exploded in a huge ball of flames. After another 30 seconds, the tanks, IFV's and artillery were firing continuous salvos while the infantry regiments were firing from their rifles. Within 1 hour, an entire force of 200,000 soldiers was completely routed. Arjun made sure to hold Gena close, as the loud noises and bright lights understandably frightened her.

* * *

**The Senate. Sadera, Imperial Capital. One week later.**

"MORE THAN 250,000 MEN!" Marquis Casel El Tiberius roared in the Imperial Senate. "THAT IS MORE THAN 25 LEGIONS! GONE! IN AN INSTANT! THE EMPIRE JUST LOST ONE-SIXTH OF ITS STANDING FORCE! YOUR MAJESTY, HOW DO YOU INTEND TO COMPENSATE FOR THIS UNPRECEDENTED DISASTER?!" Many other Senators yelled in agreement.

The Emperor of the Saderan Empire, Molt Sol Augustus took a deep breath before replying, "I share your concerns, Marquis Casel. I have spent many sleepless nights in the fear of the neighboring lands using this as an excuse to rebel against our Empire's authority. It is indeed true, that the Empire's attempts to spread proper culture to a barbarian civilization did not go as planned and our Army defeated. However, we will not allow these Barbarians to soil our Holy land with their filthy presence for even one more minute! We will not negotiate anything with these barbarians! I have already sent word to our tributary states, to aid the Empire in this time of crisis! This Empire has stood supreme for thousands of years, and will continue to do so!"

As the Senate roared in support after the Emperor's rousing speech, Marquis Casel El Tiberius quietly said, "It will be a bloodbath, Your Majesty."

The only reply he got from the Emperor, was a feral grin.

* * *

**Fort Alnus, Alnus Hill. Falmart. Three weeks later.**

Fort Alnus was the name decided for the Indian Armed Forces new base. It's not like they had any better names for it. After their first battle against the Imperial Army in Falmart, trenches were dug to and the tanks were put there. Furthermore, the construction of the helipads and runways for the adjacent air force base was already finished with hangars and ATC Tower being built. Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force's assets were being sent in different parts. Out of the planned 112,000 troops, the fort right now had 70,000 troops.

Right now, Maj. Arjun and the similarly newly promoted Major Lokesh "Scorpion" Nanda were leaning against a tank and taking drags from their cigarettes when Arjun suddenly grunted.

"What's up?" Scorpion asked.

"I dunno. I think somebody just signed their own death warrant." Arjun replied.

"You're a psychic now? After having a cute 19-year-old bunny girl stuck with you for 3 days." Scorpion said.

"Scorp, do me a favor," Arjun said. "Just go and die. You'll be doing me a great service."

"Sorry, can't. Wife's pregnant." Scorpion replied.

"Oh, that's nice. Congratulations." Arjun said. The two men took another drag of their cigarettes. "Did you just drop a fucking bomb on me?!"

"I was wondering what was wrong with you." Scorpion replied.

"Fuck…" Arjun said. "Seriously, though congratulations. Give Manisha, your wife, my best regards." Arjun said as he gave a fist bump to his friend.

"Demon. Scorpion." A PARA SF member called. "Col. Singhania has called us up."

The two men gave a nod and threw their cigarettes on the floor before crushing them with their combat boots and followed the man.

* * *

**Briefing Room. Fort Alnus.**

"So, 300,000 men, huh?" Scorpion asked. "Happy Hannukah."

"It's Christmas! You can steal City Hall!" Arjun seconded.

"True that." Col. Singhania said to all the PARA SF Commanders from the 9th and 21st Battalions in the room. "However, the guys up in the brass, and something even I agree with is, that these guys not Imperial."

"What do you mean?" One of the Commanders asked.

"This." The Colonel said as he showed a few photos on the PPT slides. Everyone noticed that the coat of arms was different from the Empire and there were many of them.

"Sir," Arjun said. "Could this be an 'Allied Coalition Army' against us?"

"Exactly it is. RAW gathered that the Empire regularly employs the use of Vassal States to aid them when needed." Col. Singhania explained. "Well honestly, these Vassals aren't our targets."

"Then how 'bout we negotiate?" Arjun asked. "I count 21 coat of arms over there. Plus, the way I see it, I guess the reason they are being sent, is because the Saderans want to avoid a potential rebellion. We don't have any beef with them."

"What if they don't accept any negotiations?" The Colonel asked.

"Well, we did try diplomacy," Arjun said.

"Hmm. The plan is sound. But very risky." Col. Singhania said.

"I'll do it," Arjun said. "I know enough about negotiations to work something out."

"Oh, you won't be going in alone then. You're one of our best." Col. Singhania argued.

"I'll go." Scorpion said.

"Scorpion?" Col. Singhania asked with a raised eyebrow.

"After I and Demon passed the 90-day probation, we made a pact. The only one allowed to kill either of us is one of us. Until then, we watch each other's six. And I ain't letting this idiot do something reckless. Fool's got a wife and a niece that looks up at him as a hero, and I made that little girl a promise to take care of her uncle." Scorpion explained.

"When the hell did that happen?" Arjun asked.

"The last time I met her, a year ago when I crashed at your place. The time when your wife was in NYC for some auditing business." Scorpion replied.

"Oh. Okay."

"Well then. I'll try playing this up with the higher-ups. Let's hope they play ball. Rest up until then. Dismissed."

* * *

**The base of the Allied Kingdoms Coalition. 4 days later**

'_What in the name of the Gods has Molt gotten us into this time?'_

This was the thought running in the mind of King Duran, the King of the Elbe Kingdom, a man who had fought many battles to earn him the title of the _'Lion of Elbe'_. The man was in the main command and planning tent the Allied army, studying the recent reports. The Emperor had commanded them to march their armies to Alnus Hill and link up with the Imperial Army and retake Alnus Hill. King Duran was elected to be the leader because of his obvious experience and general likability among the other Dukes and Monarchs.

The Allied Army's morale was high as they set up camp just half a day away from the Hill. King Duran was just doing some paperwork when one of his men burst in.

"_What's wrong, man?"_ The King asked.

"_Mi-Milord. Our scouts have just reported that a strange carriage has left the Barbarians base and making it's way to our camp."_ The messenger said.

"_I see… Come, lead me to the entrance." _King Duran said. _"Do the other Kings know about this?"_

"_Yes. Milord."_

* * *

**With Arjun and Scorpion. Indian Army Convoy.**

A brown colored armored Toyota Land Cruiser made its way across the dusty road. It was escorted with two armored Mahindra Marksman APCs armed with a Cupola machine gun each. The convoy was making its way to the camp of the Allied Kingdoms army. In the backseat of the Land Cruiser were Scorpion and Arjun, in their summer Officer's Uniform. Both men were wearing aviator sunglasses, because… why not.

"How likely do you think is our chances of success in negotiating with these guys?" Scorpion asked his friend.

"Honestly, very low," Arjun replied. "As I said, I do know how to negotiate, courtesy of my experience in negotiating during hostage situations of the UN Peacekeeping missions in Africa. These guys are a different story altogether. To be honest, the only thing we can offer them is a non-aggression guarantee. Nothing more."

"Then why did you suggest negotiating in the first place?" Scorpion asked.

"Tell me, do you want to do the dirty work for our enemies?" Arjun asked back.

"Oh…. yeah that makes sense. Good point there." Scorpion replied.

"Thanks."

"Sir, we're 400 meters out from their camp." The driver in the lead Marksman said through their comms. "You sure you wanna do this?"

"Yeah, we're doing this. Plus, to persuade them, we are carrying a gift as well." Arjun said while pointing at the box that was gift wrapped in black wrapping paper and had a cute pink bow on it.

"Shit. Don't remind me of that. Freddy Krueger is a nicer guy than you." Scorpion said with an involuntary shiver.

"I say we struck gold with this," Arjun said with a sick grin.

"You're a sick man. Really sick." Scorpion said.

The convoy took a turn and stopped right in front of the entrance of the camp. Arjun and Scorpion got out of the car and made their way to the camp when one of the soldiers stopped them while sticking his hand out. _"HALT! State your names and your business!"_

"_Major Arjun Khare and Major Lokesh Nanda of the Indian Army. We come as diplomats on behalf of the Republic of India."_ Arjun replied. _"We come bearing gifts."_ The guard honestly didn't know what to say, when another soldier came up and told him to let the two men in.

* * *

"They're in." One of the Marksman passengers said on his comm. "RAW Strike Team Eagle, you guys have the green light. Remember, we need to get their plans and extract our diplomats in case things go south."

"Roger. This is Eagle One. We're going in."

* * *

The soldier introduced himself as Praefectus Castrotum (Camp Prefect) Secundus Tadius Hilarius hailing from the Kingdom of Mudwan. Unfortunately, his name was accompanied by a long list of honors and titles that almost knocked the two PARA SF members to sleep. The two men had to really remember their training, just so they would not fall asleep.

The man finally, led them to the tent that had all the Kings and Dukes, whose army they may or may not face, that depended on the outcome of the negotiations. Both men knew that right now, there was a RAW strike team snooping about to find their plans, in case they had to fight.

Finally, the Camp Prefect introduced them to the assembled monarchs. _"My lords, I present to you diplomats from the Republic of India, Major Arjun Khare and Major Lokesh Nanda of the Indian Army!" _The Majors didn't need to be geniuses to know the man intentionally butchered the name of their country, army and their own, of course, they kept their anger in check because they honestly had no choice.

"_Thank you, Secundus. You may go back to your post now."_ King Mudwan said.

"_Gentlemen, please take a seat. Have some wine and make yourself comfortable."_ King Duran said as he gestured to two seats in the foot of the table.

"_Why, thank you for your hospitality, your Majesty."_ Scorpion said. _"Unfortunately, we're on the job so we really can't drink, we do thank you for your offer, though."_

"_Your Majesty, in thanks of your hospitality, we have come bearing gifts,"_ Arjun said as he handed a basket of fruits and the gift-wrapped box. _"That box, we honestly don't know what's in there. Our commanders were insistent, that this gift is to be opened by you only when we leave."_

The Kings weren't listening, as they were admiring the quality of the fruits and commenting that even the most elite in their kingdoms would never get fruits of such high quality. Arjun and Scorpion just gave each other a side glance, because the fruit really wasn't of some high quality, for them at least, it was fresh but it was simply a Ministry of Defense official going to the nearest supermarket back in Delhi and buying it on the discount price. On the MoD's money, of course.

King Duran was the first one to snap out of his reverie and gave a single cough to refocus the attention of his fellow monarchs. _"So, gentlemen. What is it that had you come all the way over here?" _King Duran asked.

"_We think you already know the answer to that,"_ Arjun said.

"_I do not."_ King Duran replied.

"_Alright then. We'll spell it out for you. What we want from you is simple. In return of a non-aggression pact signed by our country and yours, the Allied Kingdoms army is to go back to their lands and stay neutral in the Empire's conflict with our country."_ Arjun stated.

"_Insolent fool!"_ the King of Alguna roared. _"You dare us to shame our forefathers by ordering us to retreat! Barbarian scum!"_

"_We're not ordering. We're advising you to do so. The Republic of India has no quarrel with any of the 21 Kingdoms present here. Unless you want to be really stupid and deliberately pick a fight with us. Don't worry, we will oblige you on that as well."_ Scorpion said with a smirk.

"_Give me a reason why I should not lop your head off with my sword."_ The King of Mudwan challenged as his hand hovered close to his sword.

"_Well, you can try," _Arjun said as he placed his hand on his pistol._ "But honestly, you will be dead before you even move a muscle."_

"_Enough." _King Duran said._ "Your army is on land we consider Holy. You have come in like the barbarians you are, resisted the Empire's spread of influential culture. And now have the insides to come making demands to us. Well, I will tell you, there will be no negotiating with barbarians. You have only two choices. Submit to us and in the extent to the Empire or die as you face the might of 300,000 men, dragon riders, mages, and war elephants."_ The tone the King of Elbe chose would normally have lesser people cowering in fear. But then again, Arjun and Scorpion have stared down even more notorious and hardened terrorists and warlords. While they did notice the intensity the man carried the two Majors weren't pushovers either.

Arjun just sighed and simply said one thing. _"I heard a lot about you, King Duran. And I honestly hoped that your wisdom and experience would make sure you won't make the wrong decision. Unfortunately, it looks like I was wrong. Well, we did try diplomacy. Just be warned though. It is the foolish pride you men carry today will be the reason why the women in your lands will become widows and the children will grow up without fathers. Good day, gentlemen. Oh, the fruit is really fresh and delicious."_ With that, the two Majors left the tent and then the camp and got into the waiting Toyota Land Cruiser. A few seconds later, the convoy made its way back to Fort Alnus.

* * *

"How did it go, sir?" Their driver asked.

"Exactly what was expected, Private. They were too prideful to take the olive branch. Well, we did our part. Now the shells and bullets will do the diplomacy." Arjun said before switching on his comm.

"Warlord. This is Demon. We're on our way back. Negotiations have failed. Expect an imminent attack."

"Roger that, Demon. Good thing you and Scorpion are okay."

"What's the status of Strike team Eagle?" Scorpion asked.

"They're already back. Got some very valuable intel and not a single bullet was fired." Warlord replied.

Both the Majors gave out an impressed whistle on that.

* * *

**Back in the tent. The base of the Allied Kingdoms Coalition.**

"The nerve of those barbarians!" The Duke of the League Principality said with disgust. "To think they would have the nerve to make demands of us!"

"Aye." One of the other Kings said. "I say we send in our army right now and crush them."

"Indeed." The Duke replied. "What do you say, Duran?"

The Lion of Elbe took a deep breath and opened his one good eye. It fell to that box. Curiously, he picked it up and noticed its weight was heavy. He ripped open the package and saw it was a small crate. Meanwhile, the other kings had also gathered around the King of Elbe as he opened the lid. All of them gasped in shock.

It was the head of the Legatus Legionis of the Imperial Army, at least whatever was left of his head. The only way they recognized him was because of the helmet. King Duran noticed the cut that would have severed his head from his body was not clean. Which definitely meant that he was not beheaded by the barbarians. _'What magic do these barbarians have? So much destruction in only a head…'_

"Duran…" The King of Mudwan said.

"_I know, my friend."_ King Duran said with a fire blazing in his single right eye. _"Ready your men! We march tomorrow at dawn!"_

* * *

**Fort Alnus. Alnus Hill.**

"Warlord. Be advised that we have got a hostile formation coming our way. They're 3 clicks out from the exclusion zone." A scout radioed in.

"Copy. Do you know their numbers?"

"Uhh. Around 100,000. Over."

"Roger that. Artillery is already making calculations on the trajectory. Patching you to them. Once they're in the exclusion zone. Give the order."

"Roger that."

* * *

The armies of the League Principality, the Kingdoms of Alguna and Mudwan and a few more Kings was 100,000 men strong. The morale among the men was high and just last night they had all boasted on whose army will kill the most. None of them were worried as according to their scouts the enemy had only 70,000 troops.

'_Heh. To think they would come making demands of us. I will have a lot of fun carving them up with my spear.'_ The King of Mudwan thought with a grin.

* * *

"This is Woodpecker Scout. The enemy is firmly within the exclusion zone. Let 'em rip!"

"Roger." The commander of the Artillery unit said and then gave an order. "All units be advised, the enemy is within your range. Fire at will."

The first shot was taken by a K-9 VAJRA, a Self-Propelled Howitzer which is the Indian version of the K-9 Thunder. Within 10 seconds an explosion was heard.

"Good hit. Good hit." Woodpecker Scout said. "Continue on the same trajectory."

The next to fire immediately was the American made M777 Howitzers. Soon enough, there was constant artillery and mortar bombardment supported by tanks for 15 minutes, when Woodpecker Scout's voice came in. "Enemy is retreating. I repeat, the enemy is retreating. Ceasefire."

"Roger that." The artillery commander said and signaled the guns to stop firing.

"Woodpecker Scout. Good job. Come back and rest up. We got a hot cup of tea waiting for you boys." Warlord said over the comm.

"Roger." Woodpecker Scout replied.

* * *

**A few hours later. Alnus Hill.**

"This is Kingfisher. We have another enemy formation coming up. This time they have air units in the form of wyverns. Preparation of the AA guns is advised. Ground troops are roughly the same from a few hours ago. Counting 25 air units."

"Roger that Kingfisher. Same drill like few hours ago. We'll handle the dragon riders. We have ten Mil Mi-35s and five HAL Rudras for support and to deal with the enemy air units." Warlord said.

It was the same thing as few hours ago. This time with infantry firing from their rifles as well. They knew something would hit as they were firing downhill. The wyverns tried swooping into breath fire but would get their wings shredded by the AA guns. The ones who didn't would be subject to a rocket launcher. Once again, after 20 minutes, the enemy retreated.

* * *

**Command Tent. The base of the Allied Kingdoms Coalition.**

King Duran of the Elbe Kingdom sat alone in the tent. In both of the offenses, their coalition army suffered heavy losses. Worse still, even their Kings died in the battle. Duran had faced many battles, had stared death in the eye, numerous times. But this was the first time, he realized he was terrified. Never in his life did he see such a callous disregard of life in war. War and battle were supposed to be honorable, but today he saw a new side of war. It was hell.

'_I was a fool. Blinded by my own arrogance.'_ The aged king thought in his head. _'They didn't even die honorably.'_ Duran found the King of Mudwan, only a half of his body and crushed under his horse. A 300,000 strong force was now only 140,000 strong. However, with their Kings gone, the men's morale plummeted and were on the risk of revolting.

It was during these thoughts, two individuals came in, the first was Praefectus Castrotum Secundus Tadius Hilarius and the second was Duran's own second-in-command and wartime advisor, Lucius Plotius Vedrix. _"My liege, the men's morale is too low and I fear that they may revolt. I advise you to retreat."_ Lucius said as he bowed before his King.

"_I agree as well. We've lost our King and our will to fight."_ Secundus seconded.

Duran took a deep breath and said, _"We… have been fighting the wrong enemy this entire time."_

"_M-My liege?" _Lucius asked.

"_The Empire, Molt, they are the real enemy."_ Anyone would expect that at this point King Duran would be raving mad and half-insane because of the horrors he saw. However, the horrors had such a deep impact in his mind that he had become numb._ "That batard Molt had sent us here to die!"_

"_What?!" _Secundus exclaimed.

"_Think! Where was the Imperial Army? Why did they not come? Isn't it obvious, that Legatus Legionis, I remember him! He was said to be a prodigy in the Art of War, the youngest to attain such a high rank and not being a senator in the Imperial Senate. It would make obvious sense to send him to retake the hill! But, what happened? They were all slaughtered! His head was a warning to us on what destruction the enemy is capable of. And since we didn't heed their warning we paid for it! With blood. It would also be a cold day in Hardy's realm before Molt would actually send in reinforcements to assist us against an army that is vastly better than us technologically!" _The King of Elbe ranted and then took a deep gulp from his goblet.

"_If all that is true, my liege, what do you plan to do now?" _ Lucius asked.

"_First, have all the armies, except Elbe, to retreat and then return to their nations. We must allow the surviving soldiers to go back to their families. Have the Army of Elbe stay here and make no advances but start packing everything up. If I do not return by Dawn tomorrow, march back to Elbe without me."_ Duran ordered as he got out of the tent and made his way to the stables.

"_And where are you going exactly?"_ Lucius asked frantically.

"_Let's hope, these… Indians, are still open to that non-aggression pact."_ Duran said as he got on his horse.

"_But my liege, that is extremely risky!"_ Lucius exclaimed.

"_Listen. Two young men, half my age, came to offer us peace. On their own volition, at the time our army was at its strongest! They warned us. Sure it was in a roundabout manner, but they still warned us about Molt's treachery! Those men had the courage to face all 21 Kings and make their intentions known. It was our arrogance that has led to this disaster! I just hope they will still be open to negotiating. Even after my arrogant comments."_ Duran explained and spurred his warhorse at its maximum speed while completely ignoring his advisors' voice to stop. Unknown to King Duran though, he was being watched.

* * *

"Warlord. Be advised, we have a man matching the profile of King Duran of Elbe speeding towards our base." A hidden Ladakh Scouts member said.

"Is he alone?" Warlord asked.

"Yes sir, he is. I think he wants to take upon our peace offer."

"Alright. We'll have a welcoming party waiting for him."

* * *

**En- route to Alnus Hill.**

Duran didn't remember the last time he worked his horse, his partner, so hard. He could feel the horse's displeasure on being made to run so fast in such heavy armor. _'Just for a bit more, my friend.'_ Duran thought as he patted the horse's side. He was still riding on when he heard his name being called from behind. He looked back to see Lucius on his own horse.

"_Lucius, what are you doing here?!"_ Duran yelled.

"_There's no way I would allow you to go alone, my liege, luckily Secundus is taking care of things in my absence,"_ Lucius replied. _"I will face whatever punishment you would bestow on me, however, I cannot in good conscience leave you to fend for yourself."_

Duran only sighed, before saying, _"Very well. Let's go."_

The two men reached the Indian Army's fort in an hour and were intercepted by five soldiers of the Indian Army. They had also passed the many bodies of the soldiers of the coalition and couldn't do anything but pray their souls found peace. One of the five soldiers that intercepted the two riders was Arjun himself, this time decked out in full combat gear.

"_A lovely day today, isn't it, Your Majesty?"_ Arjun asked. He knew he was acting like a jerk. _"So what are you doing here?"_

"_I wish to speak to your commanding officer. About that non-aggression pact."_ Duran replied.

"_I hope you do know, the pact will not come in full effect until gets the signature of our Prime Minister and the Cabinet, who act in the name of the President, who is also the Commander-in-Chief. Therefore, whatever decision Lieutenant General Patel makes will also be in the name of the President. Of course, a copy of the agreement will be taken to him for his assent."_ Arjun explained.

"_I understand,"_ Duran replied.

"_Brilliant! Please have yourself and your aide come off those horses. We will lead you to the big boss." _Arjun said with a smile.

* * *

**Imperial Palace. Sadera. Three days later.**

"_WHAT?!" _Emperor Molt roared at the messenger from the 4th Scouting Unit of the Imperial Army who was kneeling in front of him. The unit was sent to observe the 'destruction' of the coalition forces. Especially the destruction of Elbe's army and the death of King Duran.

"_So, you're telling me that not only did King Duran survive, but Elbe's army was virtually unscathed?!" _Molt asked again.

"_That is correct, your Majesty. By the time I was leaving, Elbe's army was already going back to their Kingdom."_ The messenger replied.

Molt dismissed the messenger and sat back on his throne. Things were not going according to plan at all. While the other Kingdoms weren't that much of a threat to him, Elbe was the only Kingdom that could pose a threat to his Empire, especially under the leadership of King Duran. Molt had already made a deal with Duran's idiotic crown prince on his ascension after the death of his father on the battlefield against the invaders. Molt promised to assassinate the man's rivals for the throne if he swore _complete _loyalty to the Empire and reduced the size of his standing army. Something that idiot readily signed up for.

"_Along with the destruction of the coalition army, the movements of the enemy who have appeared from the Gate is a cause of concern."_ Interior Minister and Retainer Earl Marcus reported.

"_Indeed."_ Emperor Molt said. _"Burn down the roads and village between Alnus Hill and the Capital. Poison the wells and fountainheads and seize the food to the last grain."_ He ordered.

"_Scorched earth tactics, your Majesty?"_ The Interior Minister asked.

"_But of course. An army, no matter how big or strong still needs food to survive after all."_ Molt said. The underlying meaning behind his order was clear as day.

"_Our revenue from taxation will fall, your Majesty."_ Earl Marcus said.

"_Well, then we'll just have to cancel a few garden parties and postpone the building of the Imperial villa on the west coast."_ Molt said callously.

While the two men were discussing the possible threat of the Senate moving a motion to impeach the Emperor, a dignified voice that sounded like a bell chime broke the peaceful mood.

"_Your Majesty!"_ The owner of this voice had flaming vermillion hair along with white smooth skin. She was dressed in the Imperial robes and demonstrated proper courtesy as she kneeled towards the Emperor. This young lady was the Imperial Princess Piña Co Lada, the Emperor's daughter, and 10th in line to the succession of the throne.

"_Yes, daughter."_ Emperor Molt asked his favorite child.

"_Our Empire is in a critical state of affairs, and your Majesty is doing absolutely nothing! Have you gone senile?!"_ Piña asked.

"_And what could you be talking about, my child_?" Molt asked, but he already knew the answer.

"_Obviously, it's about those bandits occupying Alnus Hill. I heard that Alnus Hill was still in the enemy's control. I cannot help but think from looking at your Majesty's calm appearance that you have not heard what happened to the Allied Federation of Armed Forces. Marcus, didn't you report the truth to his Majesty?"_ Piña exclaimed.

Earl Marcus gave an explanation that was known to everyone in the courtroom as a pathetic attempt of covering up the truth. As Piña unloaded her rage on the Interior Minister, Emperor Molt sighed and raised his hand to stop his daughter from killing the Interior Minister with her sharp words alone.

"_Piña, after hearing your thoughts allow me to impart some of my own thoughts to you."_ Emperor Molt said.

"_Of course, your Majesty the Emperor,"_ Piña said.

"_There is a lot we don't know regarding the enemies gathered at Alnus Hill. For that reason, take your Order of Knights and scout the enemy's base for the Imperial Army."_ Emperor Molt said.

"_Personally?"_ Piña asked.

"_Of course. That is with the assumption that the Rose Order of Knights is not just your playthings."_ Emperor Molt said provocatively and smiled at the way his daughter had no choice but to bite her lips to stay quiet.

"_It shall be done. Your Majesty."_ Piña said with a bow and made her way out of the throne room.

"_I look forward to your accomplishments."_ The Emperor said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Yippee-Ki-Yay**

**The White House, Washington D.C., United States of America.**

"These are the reports from India about the current situation, Mr. President." The personal secretary of the President of the United States of America said as he handed him a bunch of papers.

The President gave a hum as he read it and put the stack down after a few minutes. "This Gate is honestly, a completely new frontier. With ample resources just waiting to be extracted." He said.

"That is true, sir. However, we have to accept the fact that the Gate opened in the Capital city of a regional superpower. We cannot pressure India on allowing teams of our scientists just so we can gain some benefits." The White House Chief of Staff said before continuing, "Furthermore, I doubt Congress would just allow any motion to send American lives in unknown territory. They will definitely question the administration's decision on vetoing against China's motion in the UN Security Council."

"That's correct, John. I have to agree with you over there." The President said. "Plus, we already have our hands full with the situation in the Middle East and North Korea. It could spell a blow for this administration, especially since I am trying to be re-elected for a second term. Honestly, it could have been a bit easier if the Gate would have opened in a place like Japan or South Korea. That way we could at least get a reason to send our troops as well."

"That's true sir. However, I'm pretty sure Japan would see it as a terrorist incident and thus, an internal matter according to their constitution." The President's aide said.

"Oh well, no point moaning about this now. I'm pretty sure India already has a plan. It may be possible to arrange something with the Prime Minister of India when the G20 countries will meet in six months." The President said and got back to work.

* * *

**The Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Federation.**

"So, do you have any updates about the situation in India?" The President of the Russian Federation asked his Chief of Staff.

"The only update any news channel got from the Indian Ministry of Defense spokesperson is the fact that they are identifying key strongholds and cities to capture. The only thing they have disclosed is that their contingent of Air Force is fully ready to go and that one each of their Boeing C-17s, Super Hercules 130-J and Ilyushin Il-76 are being transported in parts through the Gate." The Chief of Staff replied.

"If the Indian Army is identifying targets, then the question we should ask is how would they do so? It is very obvious that they don't have any satellites up there. Even drones can only do so much before they have to be called back." The President commented.

"Well, I'm pretty sure they can click photos through aerial reconnaissance. Though they'll still need people on the ground to learn about the importance of the places." The Chief of Staff said.

"That's true." The President said. "I do admit my surprise when the Americans vetoed China's resolution in the UN Security Council."

"It's the Chinese, sir. The effects of the US-Chinese trade war really has not been forgotten by both parties." The Chief of Staff said.

"That's right." The President responded. "Hey, can you do me a favor get me a hamburger from the McDonalds across the street?"

The Chief of Staff rolled his eyes internally and simply said, "Yes sir."

* * *

**Zhongnanhai, Beijing, People's Republic of China.**

"This Gate is a really big opportunity, Mr. President." The Chinese President's aide said.

"Indeed. It's a shame that this Gate opened in New Delhi. Think about how many resources we could get our hands on. Our economic growth did take a hit following our trade war with the Americans. Now, they are even supporting India's act of war on the other side." The Chinese President said. "How about we increase our tariffs on Indian imports?"

"Sir, they will simply retaliate with higher tariffs on our imports. We can't even threaten military action, as the fact that India is ranked 4th in the ranking for the strongest military forces is only on paper now. India can simultaneously deal with our air force and Pakistan's air force at the same time even though a few of their squadrons have been deployed through the Gate. Furthermore, many of our oil imports goes through the Indian Ocean and it will be raided by the Indian Navy." The aide explained.

"Indeed. For now, have our people from the intelligence agency in the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi increase all intelligence gathering. I want to know everything happening over there." The President ordered.

"Of course, Mr. President."

* * *

**Fort Alnus. Alnus Hill. Three days later.**

"So we've come to the conclusion that we'll need to investigate the people, industries, religions, and politics of this continent." Brigadier Raghunath Vaikar said.

"So, a survey huh?" Arjun asked. "Sounds like a great plan. But why am I here?"

"Because you're the one going." Brigadier Valkar said.

"Hell no," Arjun replied immediately.

"What?" The Brigadier asked with a tilt to his head

"There's no way in hell I'm going alone," Arjun said.

"Fool. Why would we do that?" Brigadier Valkar asked. "Ten deep recon teams have been formed and you are going to lead one of them. Your ability to befriend locals has been noted and you are one of the persons recommended straight from the Lt. Gen. himself. Your mission is to make contact with the townspeople in your designated area and determine their nature. If possible, establish a friendly relationship with them."

"Sure, I guess," Arjun said as he massaged his temples while muttering. "What a drag. I kill people in the shadows, you know. Not go around, holding hands, and singing Kumbayah."

"You say something?" Brigadier Valkar asked with narrowed eyes.

"No, sir."

"Very well then. Major Arjun Khare, I hereby grant you command of Recon Team One." Brigadier Valkar ordered.

'What a drag.' Arjun thought as he gave a salute and said, "Roger that."

While making his way to where he was supposed to meet his squad, he read the file which had everyone's name and ranks in it. The team of 23 soldiers consisted of the following members and equipment.

2017 Force Gurkha 4x4 Xpedition (8+1 Troops configuration)

Major Arjun Khare (Recon Team Leader)

Sergeant Santosh Gupta (Driver)

1st Lieutenant Dharya Malhotra (Navigator and 2nd-in-command)

Staff Sergeant Neha Patil (Combat Medic)

Mahindra Marksman (Light Bulletproof Vehicle) (6 Troops)

Corporal Varun Vyas (Driver)

Sergeant Yusuf Khan (Engineering Specialist)

Sergeant Pramod Kumar (Engineering Specialist)

Staff Sergeant Raghunath Pandey (Combat Medic)

Warrant Officer 1st Class Anushree Shrivastav (Weapon Station Specialist)

Warrant Officer 1st Class Rekha Thakur (Close-Quarters-Combat Specialist)

TATA LAMV (Light Armoured Multipurpose Vehicle) (6Troops)

Corporal Gagan Naidu (Driver)

Lance Corporal Jaswant Nambiyar (Communication Specialist)

Sergeant Durga Pandey (12.7mm Machine Gunner)

Staff Sergeant Akshay Parekh (Weapon Station Specialist)

Private Jeet Gupta (Rifleman)

Private Abhishek Sarkar (Rifleman)

Abhay ICV (Infantry Combat Vehicle) (7 troops)

Gunnery Sergeant Ravi Seth (Commander)

Private Aman Chadda (Driver)

Corporal Aditya Singh (Gunner for Primary Armament 1 x 40mm L/70 autocannon)

Corporal Amrit Upadhayay (Gunner for Secondary Armaments)

Lance Corporal Anil Pandya (Communication Specialist)

Private Karan Bhat (Rifleman)

Private Rajendra Goyal (Rifleman)

* * *

**Fort Alnus. Vehicle Parking Lot. An hour later.**

"Fall in!" 53-year-old 1st Lieutenant Dharya Malhotra called as he saluted. He was followed by the rest of the squad "Recon Team One, reporting in!"

"Yo pops!" Arjun returned the salute and did a once over of the people under his command. "I'm Major Arjun Khare, commander of this Recon Team One. If we're all ready let's move out."

Since this was a recon team, his soldiers were from different regiments of the Indian Army based on their expertise. The soldiers in his team were carrying the AK-203 Assault Rifles issued to the Indian Army infantry soldiers after complaints about the standard INSAS Rifles not being able to meet requirements. Arjun had also forgone his Tavor Rifle for an AK-203 for this assignment, not that he had a problem with it. Along with the rifle, everyone except Arjun was using the standard issue Semi-automatic Pistol Auto 9mm 1A with 9 x 19mm Parabellum bullets. Arjun however, had changed his pistol from his usual Berrata to a Glock 17.

The combat uniform of all the soldiers on the other side of the Gate had also got an upgrade. The new Indian Army combat uniform was designed by using the combat uniform of the United States Army as an inspiration. The jungle camouflage pattern of the Army Combat Shirt was replaced by a digital camouflage pattern. Furthermore, the soldiers' rank insignia was now present on the left shoulder along with the soldier's last name below the insignia. Since they were in an official combat zone, the Indian flag was featured on the right shoulder and helmet.

"All right! You heard the man! Get into your vehicles now!" 1LT Malhotra yelled and within 2 minutes Recon Team One was leaving Fort Alnus and officially starting their mission.

* * *

**A few hours later. En-route to a settlement.**

"What a blue sky…" Arjun said with a low whistle. "You don't get that in Mumbai. Or Agra." Arjun's regiment, the 50th Parachute Regiment was garrisoned in Agra.

"That's true." Sergeant Santosh Gupta said as he drove the vehicle. He was part of the 7th Garwhal Rifles Regiment and had recently returned to India with his unit after completing a tour for UN Peacekeeping Missions in South Sudan. "Honestly, I imagined dragons and fairies to be flying around. Everyone that we have met till now were humans. That's a crying shame." Sgt. Gupta said as he recalled the Squad's meeting with the villagers of Coda Village who had told them about another settlement in the woods.

"You a fan of fantasy mangas or something?" Arjun asked as he periodically checked out the scenery from his side of the window.

"Ah yeah, kinda. But I'm a fan of all things fictional and magical. Smaug, from the Lord of the Rings, is my favorite character." Sgt. Gupta replied.

"The one voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch in the movies?" Arjun asked.

"Yep." Came the reply. "What about you, sir?"

"Hm. I kinda hope to meet a Gandalf look-alike. And then he'll tell me, 'YOU SHALL NOT PASS!' That will be quite hilarious." Arjun replied with a grin.

Sgt. Gupta had to make extra sure to not lose control of the vehicle as he controlled his laughter.

"Knowing you sir, I'm pretty sure you'll trip him up and then continue your merry way while singing 'Tra-la-la'." Sgt. Gupta said.

"Oh, what exactly do you know about me, Sergeant?" Arjun asked.

"Nothing much, other than the fact that you are known to kick ass and take names while having every bad guy in the region running away every time you come in." Sgt. Gupta replied. "I mean, that's what my CO said when he told me that I will be a part of this squad under your command."

"True that." Came the reply over the radio from the other vehicles.

"Wow. Who knew that I had such a reputation." Arjun said as he removed the wrapper of a lollipop for himself and started sucking it.

* * *

**Around Sunset. Near Recon Squad One's next settlement.**

"Santosh, take a right at the stream here and follow it." Recon Squad One's 2nd-in-command and Navigator 1LT Dharya Malhotra said. "We should arrive at the forest that the Coda Village Chief was talking about."

"Roger that." Sgt. Gupta said as he saw the stream and accordingly took a right turn. "Just like he said, there is a stream."

"We're counting on you, pops," Arjun said.

"In that case, I would like to suggest something, Commander." 1LT Malhotra said. "Let's set up camp in front of the forest."

"Alright, that makes sense," Arjun said and repeated the same thing on the radio and received an affirmative from all the vehicles.

"Why don't we go into the forest right now?" Sgt. Gupta asked.

"It's a forest. The sun's about to set. We won't know what or who we are against." Arjun replied. "Sure we have night vision tech, but why should we make our jobs harder than it already is?"

"That's true." Sgt. Gupta said before he noticed something. "What the…"

"What the hell is that?" 1LT Malhotra asked as well.

Arjun sensed some trouble with the sight in front of him and switched on the radio. "All units, keep your guard up. We've got some trouble ahead."

"Roger that."

The sight in front of them was a massive plume of smoke that could only come from a forest fire. The problem was, the Recon Team did not know the source, and something within them did not even wish to know it.

* * *

**A cliff overlooking the burning forest.**

"Damn, it's burning," Arjun said as a few people came out of their vehicles to survey the scene. "What is this, a freak of nature?"

"More like a monster movie." Sgt. Gupta said as Arjun took out his binoculars and started looking for a source. As he kept on looking he saw a pair of wings.

"Son of a bitch," Arjun said as the pair of wings revealed to belong to a massive red colored dragon. "Everyone get back to your vehicles, now!" Arjun ordered. "Santosh, start that engine and start driving!"

"Sir, what do you plan to do?" Gunnery Sergeant Ravi Seth, Commander of the Abhay ICV, asked over the radio.

"Getting the fuck away from here!" Arjun replied as he took his head outside the window to see what the dragon was doing. Suddenly a massive roar was heard and Sergeant Durga Pandey, who was manning the 12.7mm machine gun on the TATA LAMV, said over the radio, "It's flying away… Oh shit!"

"Durga? What's wrong?" Arjun asked as he was not getting a good view.

"Looks like we're just desserts. That reptile noticed us and is making its way over here. ETA 30 seconds!" Sgt. Durga Pandey replied.

"Fuck!" Arjun cursed before issuing his order. "All units, prepare for combat! Like, RIGHT FUCKING NOW! ICV, you guys are gonna be the star of this battle, point your guns and start aiming! Once it's in your range, fire at will! Durga, the same goes for you! Drivers, break formation and just keep on driving! I don't want to send any of you back home in a coffin draped with the tricolor! Understood?!"

"YES, SIR!" Came the reply as everyone started following the order.

"Sir. We have a Heckler & Koch PSG1 Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle here in the back!" 1LT Malhotra said.

"We do?!" Arjun asked before adding sarcastically. "That's amazing!" However, the Commander of RT1's mind was already working on overtime when he said, "Actually… That's the best news I've heard all day, pops!"

"Sir?"

"I got a plan. None of y'all are gonna like it." Arjun replied with a grin.

"What?"

* * *

**On an open field. RT1 fleeing from the dragon.**

All vehicles of RT1 had immediately broken formation following Arjun's order. They had kept on avoiding the streams of fire that was being breathed by the dragon, so Arjun had ordered Sgt. Gupta to stay with the ICV as it was the slowest among them, thus giving the dragon a big, fat and juicy target to follow. When the dragon was within range, the ICV had started firing its 40mm L/70 autocannon and secondary armaments. Meanwhile, Sgt. Durga Pandey started firing her 12.7mm machine gun, from the TATA LAMV, on the dragon as well. Much to her frustration though, the bullets were bouncing off the dragon's scales like BB pellets.

"Sergeant!" Private Jeet Gupta called. "Try shooting that bastard on the face! You may hit its eyes!"

"Great idea!" Sgt. Pandey replied and fired accordingly. The results could be seen as the dragon reared its head and changed its attention to the LAMV. "Oh brilliant. Now it's after us." Sgt. Pandey said and she ordered Corporal Gagan Naidu, the driver, to start evading.

Suddenly to everybody's surprise, the passenger door of the Gurkha sprang open and Arjun, with full gear on, jumped out of the vehicle. Once he stabilized himself, he took his AK-203 rifle and started firing on the dragon's face until his magazine ran dry. After that, he took out his Glock 17 and repeated the same thing. When the dragon finally turned towards him, Arjun took the sniper rifle that was on his back and took aim. He aimed for the reptile's right eye, which suspiciously already had an arrow sticking out of it.

"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker." Arjun said as he started firing. It was only through sheer, dumb luck, that Arjun's hand was steady enough to have his very first shot hit the dragon straight in its eye. After all, Arjun maybe special forces, but no one in any country back home taught soldiers how to deal with massive, angry, fire-breathing dragons. Therefore, Arjun had every right to be shaken.

Once the dragon was blinded, it gave a loud roar and the ICV took this as an opportunity to fire a few more rounds from its autocannons. The dragon decided to cut its losses and took off in the distance. Everyone in Recon Team 1 continued breathing heavily when Sgt. Gupta's voice came over the radio, "Did we win? Like, did we just win against a big red dragon?"

Arjun decided to answer the question. "Yeah Sergeant. Looks like we did. Honestly, I'll be damned if the MoD doesn't give us any bonuses for fighting a godforsaken _dragon_."

* * *

**Two Hours later. Recon Team One's Location.**

2 HAL Dhruvs had landed near RT1's position after Arjun had informed Fort Alnus about their engagement with the dragon. These helicopters were carrying fresh ammunition, medical supplies and tea for the Recon Team. Accompanying this was also a team of combat medics. Aside from a few shallow cuts here and there, Arjun had somehow managed to dislocate his shoulder. Luckily, it was a clean dislocation so the Recon Team's female combat medic Staff Sergeant Neha Patil had put it back with a loud pop. The smile she carried while doing the job reinforced Arjun's secret fear of doctors. Especially when they were female combat medics. He found them much more terrifying than doctors with pointed needles.

Once everything was done, the Druvs went back to base and RT1 decided to go back to the same cliff where they saw the dragon for the first time to set their camp. The forest fire was still raging and the heat was kinda comfortable for the entire team as they went to sleep. Arjun however, was not sleeping but just taking a drag from his cigarette as he sat on the bonnet of the Gurkha 4x4.

"Sir, are you okay?" Warrant Officer 1st Class Rekha Thakur, the team's Close-Quarters-Combat Specialist, asked.

"I had a near death experience today, Ms. Thakur. Forgive your commander if he just wants to think about it while taking a smoke." Arjun replied.

"Apologies sir. I did not mean to disrespect you." WO1 Thakur said. She was simply waved off by Arjun who had finished half of his cigarette. However, Arjun did offer her a lollipop, which she took.

Warrant Officer 1st Class Rekha Thakur is part of the 7th Battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry and was wrapping up a training exercise in Japan along with the 8th and 9th Battalions and the Ichigaya Garrison of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces when the Gate had opened in New Delhi. During the exercises, she managed to gain a good rapport with Staff Sergeant Shino Kuribayashi, who had a CQC badge herself, through their sparring matches.

"Tell me, Warrant Officer, why are you not asleep?" Arjun asked.

"Hm? Oh well, I just couldn't sleep sir." WO1 Thakur replied. "But I do have a question. Why would a dragon just randomly attack a forest?"

"Remember what the Chief of Coda Village said?" Arjun asked back. "There is a settlement inside the forest. Rather, there _was_ a settlement."

"Inside? Then you mean…?" WO1 Thakur asked a bit fearfully as she looked at the raging forest fire.

"Yep. I suggest you eat light for tomorrow's breakfast. We're going in there tomorrow." Arjun said.

"What?"

"Uh-huh. Well, you should go back to your tent as it looks like it will rain soon." Arjun said as he flicked the butt of the cigarette away from him. True to his word, light drizzle had already started falling.

"Yes sir." WO1 Thakur replied and went into the tent. Even Arjun got down from the Gurkha's bonnet and went into the passenger seat and pulled the backrest to make a makeshift bed. Not ten minutes later, the drizzle had turned into a torrential downpour and Arjun closed his eyes while just looking at the big raindrops which were accompanied by thunder and lightning.

* * *

**The next day. Inside the forest remains.**

"The ground's still hot." 1LT Malhotra said as they reached a clearing which had something resembling structures. Under Arjun's orders, RT1 was investigating the remains of the settlement while Private Jeet Gupta was clicking photos for photographic evidence. The crew of the ICV was standing guard as lookouts in case anyone unwanted came.

"It sure is. I can feel it through my boots." Arjun said calmly. "It will be nothing less than a miracle to find survivors."

Arjun and Sgt. Gupta passed something that resembled a charred hand, when Sgt. Gupta said, "Commander, that is…"

"Don't say it, Sergeant. That's an order." Arjun cut him off as he continued on his way. Since he knew about the possibility of the stench of burning flesh, Arjun was wearing his black and white skull balaclava so he wouldn't have to use his hand to cover his nose. It was only when the stench hit everybody else full-on, did they just use their handkerchiefs to make a mask to cover their noses.

A few hours of searching later, Arjun sat down on the rim of an open well and took a breather as he drank water from his canteen. Meanwhile, Warrant Officer 1st Class Anushree Shrivastav came to give her report. "Commander, there are 32 building-like structures in this settlement. However, we've only confirmed 27 corpses. It's too less. I believe they may be under the rubble."

"Let's go with the assumption that there were three people per building, then that means at least a hundred people died. You may be right about a few being caught in the rubble. However, you'll have to face it. Most of the people of this settlement were food for that overgrown lizard or discount Godzilla we fought last night."

"It's a terrible loss, sir." WO1 Shrivastav said.

"It sure is and it's a good thing we already reported last night's engagement to Warlord. Apparently, they have increased the range of the radars and also regular air patrols are being conducted by the boys of the Indian Air Force." Arjun said as he took a bucket and tossed it in the well. However, instead of a splash, the pair heard a dull clunk. Both the soldiers looked at each other and then peered into the well. WO1 Shrivastav switched on her torch and found a body. The body had blonde hair and looked female.

"Yo! We got a person over here!" Arjun called to the rest of his team. "Get a rope, now!"

* * *

_AN: How was this one? Waiting for your comments, yo!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: A Humanitarian Mission.**

**Burnt Settlement Ruins.**

With a soft splash, Maj. Arjun's feet landed in the bottom of the well. He immediately checked the woman's vital sign and was glad to find a weak pulse. 'At least it's weak. We can still save her with proper medical care.' Arjun thought as he signaled the Gurkha to pull him up after he safely secured the woman.

"Keep it slow and steady, Santosh." 1LT Malhotra said.

Once Arjun came back to the surface everyone was surprised when they saw the woman, no girl's, ears. They were pointed outwards. All of them made one single conclusion, the girl they have rescued is not a human but an elf. Which meant that this was not a human settlement but an elven settlement.

"Raghunath, Neha. She has a weak pulse and possibly suffering from hypothermia**. **Give her the required medical treatment. I want her alive at all costs." Arjun ordered his teams' combat medics.

"Yes, sir." They replied and started checking her in the back of the Gurkha.

"A few cuts and bruises and possibly a broken bone or two judging from the fall she took, sir." Staff Sergeant Raghunath Pandey said. "She's freezing."

"Alright. Neha, you and Anushree strip her off her clothes." Arjun ordered and the men gave them privacy as they did so. Since they were giving the elf treatment in the back of the Gurkha, 1LT Malhotra had taken WO1 Shrivastav's place as Weapons Specialist in the Marksman, while WO1 Rekha Thakur took over as RT1's navigator. The two men in the front had their view covered by the curtain that was placed. Only once the clothes were off and the girl was covered by a sheet, was when Staff Sergeant Raghunath Pandey was allowed to come in and start treating her. Once everyone was ready, Arjun ordered the convoy to go back to Alnus Hill via Coda Village to inform the villagers about the events that transpired within the last 24 hours and to perhaps get their survivor some medical treatment.

"You know, sir." Sgt. Gupta started as they drove along the dusty road. "I thought that finding an elf or a dragon would be really cool. But honestly, I don't think I can say that anymore."

"Oh? Why so?" Arjun asked.

"We were attacked by a dragon and the only elf we found is the only survivor of a burnt down settlement. I'm one hundred percent sure she has lost her friends and possibly her family. It will be wrong for me to celebrate that." Sgt. Gupta replied. "As I do admit I was looking forward to meeting elves and other fantastic creatures, but not like this."

"Good," Arjun said. "As I don't want people with no empathy in my team."

"You know sir, you should tell that to Sergeant Takeo Kurata of the JSDF." WO1 Thakur said as her head popped out from the curtain.

"I'm sorry. Who?" Arjun asked.

"A member of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force who was one of the few soldiers got in from their Hokkaido Garrison when my battalion was training in Japan. He and 2nd Lieutenant Itami were two of the most annoying people I met there. Kurata even more so." WO1 Thakur said.

"Hang on, Itami? As in Youji Itami?" Arjun asked. "Why on God's Green Earth was a member of the Japanese Special Forces training with the normal Ground Self Defense Force?" Arjun asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um sir, I'm pretty sure we have our Itami's mixed up." WO1 Thakur replied. "The name's right, but there's no way in hell that guy is Special Forces. He does know his stuff, but he doesn't have the drive for Special Forces. I can say that especially after seeing you in action, sir."

"Hold up," Arjun said. "The guy is a bit of a slacker, ain't he? He always says that he works for his hobby and if he had to choose between his job and his hobby, he would always choose his hobby. The same guy, right?" At his subordinate's nod, he declared. "Yep. We're talking about the same guy. 2nd Lieutenant Youji Itami is a member of the Japanese Special Forces. Like me, even he has a paratrooper badge but knowing him, he will deliberately not wear it since he's terrified of heights."

"Sir, how the hell do you know someone like that?" WO1 Thakur asked. Her expression clearly showed that her head was spinning from the new information she received.

"5 years ago, the PARA SF had sent two battalions to Japan. Along with two each from MARCOS and GARUD, we were representing India in a training exercise. The other three countries were the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Me and Itami became friends over there as we are both fans of the Otaku culture. I'm not surprised by hearing about his slacker attitude. I really had to threaten him to make him actually take the exercise seriously." Arjun explained.

"But how did a guy like him make it into the Special Forces? That does not make any sense." WO1 Thakur moaned.

"Simple. Itami was second last during training. That was because one of his colleagues had broken his leg. When questioned about his attitude, Itami made some real smart-ass comments which had some weight in them. Since they could not just kick him out, they tried to shape him up by shipping his ass into Ranger training and then special forces. Sadly, it didn't work." Arjun replied. "It sure made for a hilarious story though, when we heard about it."

"Damn. Shino ain't gonna like this new info when she hears about this." WO1 Thakur said.

"Who?"

"Staff Sergeant Shino Kuribayashi of the JGSDF. Like me, even she has a CQC badge and she _loathes_ 2nd Lieutenant Itami. She sees the members of the special forces as some badass heroes and just hearing the fact that Itami is ex-special forces will definitely see her dreams shattered. Plus, I'm pretty sure she would strangle Itami if she could get away with it." WO1 Thakur replied.

"Hey, hey. She better keep her thoughts to herself there. Itami may look like a guy who couldn't give a rat's ass about what people think about him, but he's still former special forces. He can easily kill her in a heartbeat if she gets too antsy." Arjun warned. "If not that, she may face an inquiry about disrespecting a superior officer. While not many people like Itami, there is an equal number of high-ranking people in the JSDF who respect the guy for his quick-wittedness in running away."

"So, this Kurata fellow. What did he do to earn your ire?" Sgt. Gupta asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

"Oh yeah. That was the main thing that started this topic." WO1 Thakur said. "I'm pretty sure if that clown was here, he would have started jumping with joy about the fact that we found an elf and immediately start clicking pictures like a kid high on candy. He wouldn't have given a thought about the girl's circumstances."

"I think you are being a bit hard on the guy, Rekha," Arjun said.

"What do you mean, sir?" Sgt. Gupta and WO1 Thakur asked. At this point, everyone within the convoy was listening to the conversation because Arjun had deliberately left the comms switched on.

"Look, the guy's name is Sergeant Kurata, right? He's part of the JSDF. Not the Japanese Army. He hasn't seen action like say, the Indian Army or the US Army, etc. While things like discipline are obviously demanded in the JSDF, they have not seen true war or the horrors of the battlefield ever since their surrender to the Americans in World War 2. Therefore, it may be hard for Sgt. Kurata to actually make the connection at first that the girl being treated by our combat medics right now has possibly lost everyone she ever knew. That does not mean he won't understand the implications later on, and when it would, it would come down on him like a ton of bricks. At that point, he would definitely understand that his initial enthusiasm was wrong and he was being very insensitive." Arjun explained his view to his team. "Obviously, I cannot and will not ask you to change whatever views you have on the guy. However, I will ask you to look at this from a different perspective."

"Damn, who knew you could so profound sir." 1LT Malhotra said through the comms. "I'm 53 years old, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to put it like that."

"Really? I don't think I said something on the same lines as guys like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. you know." Arjun simply said as he lit himself a cigarette. The entire convoy became silent after that. Half an hour later, the medics informed that their survivor was now finally stable but would still need better medical care. Arjun hoped something could be done at Coda Village.

* * *

**Coda Village.**

"_What?!"_ The Village Chief of Coda Village asked with wide eyes. _"The entire village has been wiped out?!"_

"_Sounds about right,"_ Arjun replied as he showed a photo of it on his phone. RT1 managed to get a few good photos by the dashboard camera of the vehicles. _"It was big, red and angry. 'Twas a dragon and it breathed fire. Both the forest and the village burnt down to the ground. We only could save one girl."_ Arjun said as he took the man to see their survivor.

"_Just this one girl?"_ The Village Chief asked. _"This is nothing short of a tragedy."_

"_It is. She needs proper healthcare, can't you guys take her in?"_ Arjun asked.

The Village Chief shook his head in the negative before he explained. _"An elf cannot be taken in by a human village. On top of that, we need to flee while we still can."_

"_Excuse me?"_ Arjun asked.

"_That fire dragon will keep attacking villages and towns, now that it has acquired a taste of elf or human blood."_ The Chief said. _"Please excuse me, I need to help the villagers."_

'And here I thought discount Acnologia loved his meals roasted.' Arjun thought just as his comms came live.

"Boss, this the ICV. We're spotting a dust cloud in the distance."

"The fuck?" Arjun asked.

"Hang on… Well damn."

"What's up?"Arjun asked again.

"We're looking at a fucking unit of those Imperial soldiers!"

"What?!"

"Yep! I can confirm this. Probably 30-40 of them. ETA 20 minutes."

"Attention all units, be advised that we have a group of Imperial soldiers making their way to this village. Stop the villagers from packing their things and get them to a safe spot. After that, regroup to the main square for further briefing." Arjun ordered through his comms. "ICV, hold position and make sure you aren't seen. We need them to think everything's normal."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

It didn't take long for RT1 to persuade the villagers to stop packing their belongings and take refuge in a nearby clearing. Arjun had two Privates remain there to protect them in case if any of the soldiers would get away from their grasp.

Meanwhile, RT1 had taken positions in the houses that surrounded the village square. The plan was simple. Kill all the soldiers and capture the commander for interrogation. 10 minutes later, the Imperial soldiers reached the square. They were completely filled with their arrogant swagger and RT1 was just waiting for the moment their commander would give them the order to open fire.

"_This is the 25th Imperial Scouting Unit! By order of the Emperor, his Imperial Highness Molt Sol Augustus, we demand the citizens of Coda Village assemble in this square with all of your farms produces!"_

"Sir, permission to open fire?" Sgt. Durga Pandey asked.

"No. Not yet." Came the reply. "Just wait."

"_The citizens of this village have to comply within the next five minutes or else we shall force you to come out by breaking down your doors!"_

"RT1. You have permission to open fire." Arjun's voice sounded over the comms. The order was complied with immediately and within the next 30 seconds more than half of the 25th Imperial Scouting Unit was wiped out in a spray of bullets. The stragglers tried to make a run for it, as they realized the enemy from Alnus Hill was now in the village.

"Catch 'em all! None of them should make it out alive!" Arjun ordered. "Pops, four of them just ran towards the clearing where the villagers are at. Give the boys a heads-up!"

"Sir, the commander is making a run for it with 6 guys." Sgt. Durga Pandey informed.

"Leave them to me," Arjun said as he started running to cut them off.

Because of the Imperial soldiers' heavy armor, they were much slower than Arjun who had already set up a "rendezvous" point. When they reached the point, Arjun, who already had his Glock 17 out, shot two of the Imperial soldiers in the head, killing them instantly. The Unit Commander had a relieved face when he saw it was only one man and ordered the remaining four men to kill Arjun.

When the soldiers made a lunge for Arjun, he hit the first soldier with his elbow before slitting his throat with his combat knife. Then Arjun grabbed the fallen soldier's spear and broke it with a karate chop before taking the pointed end of the spear. The second Imperial soldier made his way cautiously to Arjun with his shield raised. Arjun moved swiftly and plunged his broken spear into the shield with incredible strength. The spear remained lodged in the shield and Arjun pulled it harshly out of the Imperial soldier's grasp before slapping him across the face with the same shield. Arjun then pulled out his Glock 17 and shot him twice in the face.

The two remaining Imperial soldiers stood on either side of Arjun with their swords drawn. Both of them lunged for him as they aimed for his head. Arjun ducked and rolled behind before getting up while holding his Glock 17 in one hand and his combat knife in the other. The first of the two fell with a single headshot, while Arjun got into close-quarters-combat with the last soldier. Since the soldier kept on parrying Arjun's knife strikes with his sword Arjun got close to him and punched the soldier on the face to disorient him. After that, Arjun plunged his knife straight in the bottom of the man's chin and kept eye contact with the man as he collapsed on the ground with his life force draining away and the light in his eyes dimming.

The Unit Commander now realizing there was no one to protect him tried to run but Arjun shot his right knee with his last bullet of his Glock 17 before he put a fresh clip in it and pointed the gun towards the Unit Commander. _"You do know you ain't getting far, right?"_ Arjun said. _"So how about you let me and my men take care of you? Especially since you have made such a long trip."_

* * *

It didn't take long for RT1 to learn that the Emperor had ordered the implementation of scorched earth tactics. This piece of news clearly displeased the entire team. They also learned that the Recon Teams had also had their own run-ins with the Imperial Scouting Units. Not all of the Recon Teams were lucky to find thriving villages with men in farms and children playing in the village square. Instead, they saw the after-effects of the Emperor's order and the scene left a very bad taste in their mouths.

Meanwhile, Arjun informed Fort Alnus about the situation of Coda Village and gained authorization to carry out a humanitarian mission, i.e., escorting the villagers of Coda out of a certified combat zone and into safe territory. When Arjun brought up the subject of the dragon, he got the reply that Fort Alnus was sending a squadron of Dassault Rafales that were supposed to be in the air conducting patrols but would be diverted to provide air cover and act as an early warning for Recon Team One and the villagers. Therefore, with the important task out of the way, RT1 could begin helping the villagers.

* * *

**A house on the outskirts of Coda Village.**

"_Hey! Dammit!"_ An old man shouted as he kicked the front door of his house open. He was dressed in a wizards' robes, complete with a pointed hat and was holding a pile of books. _"Dammit, all!"_ The man then proceeded to fall down and start throwing a fit like a little kid.

Standing in front of the cart next to the old man, was a young girl with blue hair and blue eyes. Like the old man, even she was holding a few items in her hand and was placing them in the cart. At the sight of the old man she simply said, _"Master, we can't carry anymore."_

"_No!"_ The old man continued like a petulant child. _"I need my books! Lelei, isn't there anything we can do?"_

"_Certainly." _The girl named Lelei replied. _"I believe we should prioritize the most valuable books."_

"_That's right. You are such a smart kid, Lelei."_ The old man said as he dusted off his robes after getting up. _"But why now? That crazy fire dragon was not supposed to show up for at least 50 more years! Look at the trouble it's causing for us."_

"_I wish you would sleep already, too,"_ Lelei said as she tied up the items in the cart.

"_What?! The hell do you mean by that? I'm not interested in mounting little girls like you!"_ The old man said before adopting a lecherous expression on his face. _"I'd rather mount a curvy woman like your sister any time of the day."_

In reply to that comment, Lelei used her magic to blow the old man back and continued assaulting him with icicle particles. _"Stop! Magic is sacred! Don't abuse it!"_ One of the particles hit him on the face anyway.

"_Boy, you sure can't take a joke, can you?"_ The old man said as he sat down in the cart next to Lelei, who was holding the reins of the donkey that would pull the cart. _"I blame you, Master. You are my teacher after all."_ Lelei said as she snapped the reins in order to make the cart move. However, the donkey only neighed in protest of the weight. _"Guess he can't move."_ The old man said. _"Weren't you the one who said to pack all this?"_ Lelei asked. _"Heh. Don't worry. I am a sorcerer after all!"_ The old man said as he triumphantly raised his staff in the air. "_I heard magic is sacred. Something that shouldn't be abused. Weren't those your words, Master?"_ Lelei asked. _"W-Well I… er…"_ The old man tried to fumble a reply. _"However, we don't have a choice right now,"_ Lelei said and with a single wave of her staff, the cart's weight was drastically reduced, thus allowing the donkey to pull it easily. _"I'm sorry."_ The old man said. _"It's fine. I've always known this is how you are."_ His student replied.

When the donkey pulled cart reached the main street of the village, they saw a long line of other horse-drawn carts. _"Hm? What's going on up ahead?"_ The old man asked.

"_Sage Cato! Lelei! One of the carts was carrying too much and its axle broke. It's now blocking the whole way."_ One of the villagers informed.

Suddenly the new arrivals heard a new voice, in a different language. "We got to help these guys! Pops, tell the Village Chief to start moving. The rest will follow up!"

"Yes, sir!"

Lelei and the now named Sage Cato could only look on in wonder. _"I've never heard of such a strange language."_ Sage Cato said. _"I've never seen such strange clothes."_ Lelei seconded.

"Neha! You and Raghunath make sure no one's injured!"

"Roger that."

"_Women soldiers?"_ Cato questioned.

"_Master, I'm going to take a look,"_ Lelei said as she got down from the cart and started running while ignoring her master's call to wait.

When she reached the sight of the accident, she saw an upturned cart, a horse roughly breathing with foam in its mouth and more importantly, a girl just a few years younger than Lelei breathing heavily. The girl was also covered in scratches and bruises. Lelei got down on her knee and quickly made a deduction. _"She's in danger."_ Meanwhile, Staff Sergeant Neha Patil used her on-field medical expertise to make a diagnosis. "She has a concussion and possibility of a fractured skull." As Lelei could only stare in awe of the quick diagnosis, Staff Sergeant Raghunath Pandey came behind Lelei and told her to get away because of the danger.

Suddenly, a loud neigh was heard and the horse that was on the ground was now in upright and clearly mad. Before any damage could be done, however, Arjun and 1LT Dharya Malhotra immediately opened fire on the insane horse, whose face was shredded after having 3 short bursts each from the two Indian soldiers' AK-203 rifles. Lelei ignored S/Sgt. Patil's question of whether she was alright as she kept on staring at Arjun and his second-in-command who were now calmly discussing a different topic. _'These people…'_ Lelei thought._ 'These people just saved me.'_

* * *

**Sometime later. Coda Village.**

"Hey, Major." Sgt. Gupta called.

"What now?" Arjun replied as he drank from his water canteen.

"Don't tell me we're going to take care of these people forever." Sgt. Gupta said.

"Are you stupid?" Arjun asked. "We don't have the resources to set up refugee camps for these people. Our mission right now is to just escort them out of the combat zone. That means Alnus Hill and its surrounding areas of a 25 KM radius. According to the Village Chief, most of these people have relatives in other places. Furthermore, the Lords that were in charge of this area never came back, after they fought at Alnus Hill. Therefore, the only reason we're doing this is so that they're not attacked by bandits or something like that." Arjun explained.

* * *

**In a Bandit Hideout. Nightfall.**

"Looks like Coda Village is going on the run." One of the bandits said. "It will be just like lambs coming in for slaughter."

"Haha. That's true. We'll kill the men, take the women for ourselves and also whatever food they'll have. It'll be one hell of a party." Another bandit said.

"But hey, do we have enough men for this?" Another bandit asked.

"Doesn't matter. We'll get some more. There are plenty of stragglers left from the recent battle at Alnus Hill. We'll round them up and could easily take on not just a village but an entire town." The second bandit replied.

"We could overthrow a local Lord and become Lord's ourselves!" Someone else said.

"From a bandit leader to a Lord… Heh, I like that." Suddenly there was a loud slash and the Bandit leader's head went flying. The last sight he saw was of his own headless body as the darkness quickly took him. The other bandits gave a shout in fear when they suddenly heard giggling.

"_Gentlemen, thank you for tonight."_ A young woman wearing a costume said as she raised her halberd._ "Thank you very much for your selfless sacrifice." _One of the bandits was swiftly cut down. _"His Holiness was very pleased with your actions. He now requests your presence."_ The young woman cut down some more bandits. _"I am Rory Mercury, the apostle of Emroy, the God of War and Madness."_

"_She's one of the Twelve Apostles! Rory the Reaper!" _A bandit yelled. _"Shit! Run!"_

"_Oh, I don't think so,"_ Rory said as she started chasing the bandits and killed them off one by one. She used her halberd as a bat to flick the rocks that were in mid-air and hit the bandits. As she killed some more, she took her halberd in the air and brought it down on the last bandit, killing him instantly.

* * *

**With Recon Team One escorting Coda Village. Next day.**

"Her vitals are steady now." S/Sgt. Patil reported as she looked over RT1's unconscious passenger. Next to her, S/Sgt. Raghunath Pandey was writing notes. "She should regain consciousness soon."

"Good job, you two," Arjun said. "But still, this sucks."

"Do these people have a destination in mind?" Sgt. Gupta asked as he looked at the caravans and carriages from the rearview mirror.

"Not that I'm aware of," Arjun replied.

"They don't?!" Sgt. Gupta asked in surprise. "We're just going around in circles then!"

"Actually no. We're not." Arjun replied.

"What do you mean?" Sgt. Gupta asked.

"Our orders were to escort these civilians out of the combat zone," Arjun said. "Basically, we just have to get these people in a territory where there are proper law and order. After we wasted the Saderan Army, the region around Alnus Hill became something akin to the lawless Wild West. Even the local tax collector ain't gonna show his face there in fear of having a bullet shot in his skull. Unfortunately, many villages like Coda fall in this 'lawless' region. We may be fighting a war against this Empire, but we don't have a beef against the people. Therefore, we're doing this."

"Lucky for us we're having a fighter escort." Sgt. Gupta said.

"Heh. You said it." Arjun replied. "Though, I do feel a bit guilty about our flyboys scaring the living daylights of the villagers," Arjun said as he remembered the verbal lashing he gave to their fighter jet escorts when they thought it was a very funny idea to do a low bypass. It was no surprise that all the villagers were absolutely terrified, and after Recon Team One managed to calm them all down, every single fighter pilot got subjected to a brutal verbal beatdown by the commander of RT1. It was safe to say that in the end the pilots were very apologetic of what they did and were dreading to meet the Major on the ground once RT1 came back to base.

"Admit it, sir. You found it funny as well." Sgt. Gupta said.

"Actually no, I didn't. Especially since what they did was basically terrify a group of people who are already miserable," Arjun replied. "Think about it, Sergeant. What if one of the pregnant woman's water broke or one of the senior citizens had a heart attack? It's the luck of the devil that nothing of the sort happened. These people are under our care. How badly do you think it would reflect on all of us, and in turn the entire Indian Armed Forces, of the fact that a few civilians died or were grievously harmed just because our pilots thought of a prank in a time and place where they should have absolute seriousness?"

"I-I see." Sgt. Gupta said.

"Still, being on the run is exhausting if you don't know who exactly you're running from," Arjun said as he looked at his side of the rear-view mirror. He could see a few members of RT1 pushing a cart through the wet mud with RT1's Second-in-Command barking at them.

Ten minutes later, Arjun was called to the middle of the convoy. Apparently, one of the carts collapsed and 1LT Malhotra wanted to know what they should do. Arjun ordered their mechanics to check the cart out and they reported that the axle has broken, so it would be impossible to fix it. Arjun relayed the same information to the Village Chief, who managed to convince the family of three to just take the things they could carry on their person and asked RT1 to burn down the cart.

'Why did you burn down the cart, sir?" S/Sgt. Patil asked back in the Gurkha.

"They wouldn't move otherwise. The Chief made the smart decision on burning it down." Arjun replied.

"Why aren't we requesting for more vehicles as backup?!" S/Sgt. Patil asked.

"We're past the frontline. There is also a Saderan Military Fort nearby, and we have birds in the air." Arjun said. "It's a bloody miracle, those guys haven't seen our actions as kidnapping their citizens and sent their army after us. If we request backup vehicles, the Saderan's may see this as an act of aggression. Do you want these civilians to be caught in the crossfire?"

"No, but-" S/Sgt. Patil could just say.

"But nothing. I see where you're coming from, Neha. But you have to take the big picture into account. We're doing a humanitarian mission behind enemy lines. Just us being here is being tolerated by them. What do you think will happen if more vehicles are seen?"

While the combat medic didn't answer, Arjun knew she was already aware of the answer and its implications.

"Yo. Who that?" Sgt. Gupta asked.

"Hm?" Arjun grunted as he took his binoculars and at first spotted a murder of crows flying in the air. When he looked down, he saw a girl (Rory Mercury) in a gothic lolita outfit with a rather large halberd. "Well, that's a big ax for a 13-year-old kid," Arjun said.

"Eh?" Sgt. Gupta asked.

"She's wearing a gothic lolita outfit," Arjun said.

"What?!" Sgt. Gupta asked as he took his own binoculars to see.

Meanwhile, Rory got up from her seated position and made her way to the Gurkha. _"Where do you come from? Where are you going?"_ She asked.

"What did she say?" S/Sgt. Patil asked.

"She's asking who the hell we are and where the hell we're going," Arjun replied.

"_It's the Oracle!"_ The children who were in the Gurkha cried as they sprang open the back door and ran towards the girl while shouting, _"Oracle! Oracle!"_

"Oracle?" Arjun asked as the kids and even a few adults reached Rory. Arjun and the rest of RT1 raised their eyebrows when they saw the adults kneeling in reverence towards the girl.

"_Where do you come from?"_ Rory asked.

"_Coda Village."_ One of the kids replied.

"_We had to flee the village."_ One of the elders said. _"We had no choice as a Fire Dragon is on the prowl."_

"They appear to be praying to her." S/Sgt. Patil.

"Uh-huh," Arjun replied as his eyes narrowed just a bit. After all, it wasn't every day he met teenagers carrying a big ax.

Rory suddenly turned her eyes towards the Gurkha and made her way towards the vehicle. _"And who are these strange people?"_ She asked.

"_They saved us. They're good people."_ Another child replied.

"_So, you aren't being forced out of your village?"_

"_Nope."_

"_How does this move?"_ The girl asked as she looked over RT1's vehicle. Probably looking for a horse to pull it but obviously not finding any.

"_I don't know."_ Came the reply. _"But it's much comfier than our carts!"_

"_Oh? A comfy ride? I wonder how comfy?"_ Rory asked with a smirk. She obviously was planning something as she turned to look at Arjun who immediately recognized the mischievous look in her eye. Sensing that she would do something that would definitely make his team question his abilities as a leader, he locked his side of the door and before rolling up his window he said, _"Yo, kids! Get back in the car. We're moving forward."_ After that, he just watched as Rory tried to open the door. A futile effort.

* * *

**A few hours later. Roche Hill.**

"The scenery's started to change, huh?" Sgt. Gupta asked as the Gurkha drove on what appeared to be a barren rock desert.

"Hm. Apparently, the locals call this place Roche Hill." Arjun replied. "Honestly, we're a bit too far out. The jets already did one round of mid-air refueling. God, when will this end?" Arjun and Sgt. Gupta consciously ignored a smiling Rory Mercury who was sitting with Arjun as they shared seat space. Arjun didn't know why, but the girl just wouldn't go sit in the back. And so, to prevent any more delays, he allowed Rory to share seat space with him in the front (Something that made Arjun very uncomfortable).

"Recon Team One, this is Lightning One! Come in!" RT1's comms buzzed to life as the voice of the leader of the Indian Air Force Squadron sent to assist them shouted in the comms.

"Lightning One, this RT1 Actual! We copy loud and clear. What's up?" Arjun asked.

"Sir, we just had a dogfight with your fire dragon! Unfortunately, we couldn't keep it away from the convoy! Expect that lizard to attack within ten seconds!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Arjun shouted before calling out to his team. "Everyone on your battle stations! All hands on deck!" Just as Arjun said that he heard a loud roar. Arjun stuck his head out of the window just in time to see a massive pillar of flames instantly incinerate a number of carts and the families with it.

"Let's roll! Fighting giant lizards is an Indian Army tradition after all!" 1LT Malhotra yelled.

"Since fucking when pops?!" Arjun shouted back as he shot the dragon from the passenger seat window. "Last I checked these things were usually done by the US Army or the JSDF! Heck, even the Avengers don't do this! LAMV and ICV, create a diversion with your mounted guns. Remember to aim for the son of a bitch's eyes!"

The LAMV and the ICV did just that. However, their shots were going all over the place because of the rough terrain. It also seemed that the dragon recognized the team from their last encounter, as everyone who could see the dragon easily noted how the beast's lone pupil dilated to the point of looking like slits. The dragon took a deep breath and Arjun saw the flames filling its mouth. "Shit! That's a breath attack coming up! Break! Break! Break!"

"Sir, we don't stand a chance against those flames! Even the machine gun's ain't cutting it!" Sgt. Gupta said as he kept on driving.

"I know," Arjun replied before switching on to the IAF Squadron's channel. "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY AIR SUPPORT GODAMMIT?!"

"Right here, sir!" Lightning One's voice came in. Suddenly there was a series of loud explosions as many Israeli made PYTHON air-to-air missiles struck the dragon on its back. However, much to everybody's surprise, the dragon was still not down for the count. This time, however, it turned its attention to the jets that were about to take another shot at the dragon.

"All air units, break formation and abort your second run! That thing's about to make a run at you!" Arjun ordered the IAF squadron. "Fly high and return to base immediately!

"Roger that. Squadron out." The Rafales then took a sharp turn in either direction while deploying their countermeasures to deal with the flames of the dragon and flew high into the sky.

"Who the hell's got that rocket launcher?" Arjun asked.

"I do." Sgt. Durga Pandey replied. "Already taking aim."

"Fire!"

Sgt. Pandey pulled the trigger, however, the dragon swerved to avoid it. To RT1's surprise, Rory kicked the back door of the Force Gurkha open and jumped to the roof, where she threw her ax, which went spinning magically and hit the dragon. The impact made the dragon come back into the path of the missile which connected with a fiery explosion at the dragon's left shoulder. The scream of pain, almost made Arjun feel sorry for the lizard. Keyword: _Almost_.

The dragon very well knew it would be killed if it stayed any longer and decided to retreat again. This humiliating second defeat convinced the dragon to find a new hunting ground, as it was sure that the humans anywhere else would not be able to fight it.

* * *

**A few hours later. Nighttime.**

The dragon's attack saw many villagers dead. They had either been incinerated from the dragon's fire or broke their necks when they fell off their carts. Some were even found crushed under their carts or horses. Every person of RT1 helped the able-bodied men of Coda Village to dig up graves of the deceased. By the time the last grave was covered, it was already night and with the looming threat of the fire dragon gone, the villagers decided to continue the journey on their own. Some people had friends and relatives in other towns and villages who would help them get back on their feet. Some would have to settle in completely new towns where they didn't have anyone to help them. In the end, the villagers of Coda now had a renewed hope in their eyes and Recon Team One knew they wouldn't have to worry. That was until…

"_So, you're just going to abandon these people?"_ Arjun asked as he gestured towards the orphans, senior citizens and the injured who had no relatives.

"_I apologize for being so cold, but we have to take care of our own too. We can't afford to take care of them as well."_ The Village Chief said. Arjun could tell that the man was being honest and that his hands were tied on leaving these people to their own fate._ "Major Arjun Khare, we sincerely thank you for helping us, even though we are citizens of an Empire your country is at war with."_

"_Don't worry about it. We were just doing our jobs."_ Arjun said. _"Where will you go?"_

"_I have a cousin who lives in one of the towns bordering Elbe. That's where I will be going."_ The Village Chief replied.

"_You sure that's a good idea?"_ Arjun asked. _"Considering the defeat of the Allied Army and King Duran's retreat, I don't think the relations between Elbe and the Empire is nice right now."_

"_Indeed. However, the Empire will be too occupied fighting your country to give a thought about us."_ The Village Chief said as he got on his cart.

"_Heh. Fair enough."_

The Village Chief tipped his hat one last time towards Arjun before snapping the reins of his horse. This time, the Village Chief's cart took the lead. As the convoy left, the members of Recon Team One waved to the people of Coda Village who also waved back. "Just saying if anyone wants to cry, they are welcome to do so." Arjun said.

"What about you sir?" 1LT Malhotra asked with a grin.

"Heck no. I ain't sentimental." Arjun said before turning to the remaining members of Coda Village. "Now, what in the name of God's Green Earth would I do with you guys?"

Like it was mentioned before, the remaining villagers were orphans, senior citizens and the injured who had no relatives. All of them were understandably worried, with the exception of Rory Mercury, that is. At this point, Arjun didn't even know why she was still sticking with them, and frankly, Arjun decided he won't persuade the topic any further. On the question of the other refugees, Arjun already made his decision. He didn't care if he would be reprimanded for it back at Fort Alnus. After all, he was the highest-ranking officer here.

"_Alright. Get in the cars y'all! We're going back to Fort Alnus. Don't worry I'll handle everything."_ Arjun said. He knew he made the right choice when he saw the relieved faces of everyone, including the other members of Recon Team One. "What? You guys think I have an ice-block where my heart is supposed to be?" Arjun asked his team.

None of them answered his question and quietly got into their vehicles. With a smirk, Arjun got into his vehicle as well and ordered Recon Team One to return back to Fort Alnus.

* * *

An hour later, a cavalry unit of 50 horsemen reached the same spot where the bodies of the dead villagers of Coda Village was buried. While initially they could be confused for men of the Saderan Empire, these men were not even remotely close to the Saderan cavalry. This was because of the many features that made them differ from the Saderans. While these horsemen were carrying lances just like the Saderan cavalry, the colors of the clothes these men wore were bright orange or saffron. Similarly, these men were also carrying muskets. Something that was definitely not with the Saderan Army. However, the feature that completely separated these men from the Saderans was the language. The leader of the Cavalry unit motioned one of his men to come forward.

"अजय, ही जागा होती का?" (Ajay, was this the place?) The leader asked.

"होय साहेब. आमच्या स्काउट्सने त्यांना स्पष्टपणे पाहिले." (Yes sir. Our scouts saw them clearly.) The man named Ajay replied.

"सर्व येथे कोण दफन केले आहे?" (Who's buried over here?) The leader asked again.

"कदाचित ग्रामीण भागातील काही" (Probably some of the villagers.) Came the reply.

"त्यांनी हल्ला केला का?" (Were they attacked?) The leader of the unit asked.

"खूप शक्य आहे सर." (Very much possible, sir.) Ajay replied again.

"आणि आपणास खात्री आहे की हे गावकऱ्यांचे अनुकरण करणारे पुरुष साम्राज्याचा भाग नाहीत?" (And you are pretty sure the men escorting those villagers were not part of the Empire?) The leader asked again.

"होय साहेब. जेव्हा आमच्या सैनिकांनी त्यांना रोखले तेव्हा त्या गावकऱ्यांनीही याची पुष्टी केली." (Yes sir. This was confirmed by those villagers as well, when they were intercepted by our soldiers.) Ajay replied again.

"ठीक आहे, परत जाऊया. जे इथे होते ते आम्ही स्पष्टपणे गमावले. येथे यापुढे राहण्याचे कोणतेही बिंदू नाही. हे अजूनही प्रतिकूल जमीन आहे." (Very well, let's go back. We've clearly missed whoever was here. There's no point staying here any longer. This is still hostile lands.) The leader declared as he turned his horse around.

"होय साहेब!" (Yes sir!) Came the reply from the entire cavalry unit as they spurred their horses and went back to wherever they came from while leaving nothing but dust behind them...

* * *

_AN: Sorry for taking so long with the update. My uni is on summer break and enjoying every bit of it, which didn't allow me to write the chapter. But, here it is. What do you think about these mysterious newcomers (Not really, lol)? For the record, the language the newcomers are speaking is not Hindi. This is for those readers who are not from India. P.S. Hindi is the name of the language, not Indian. Indian is a nationality._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: A Mysterious Third Player Joins the Party**

**En-route to Fort Alnus, Alnus Hill. Morning.**

RT1's unconscious passenger, an elf by the name of Tuka Luna Marceau, woke up with a start. As she looked around her surroundings, she realized that she was in a vehicle and surrounded by strange people.

_"Good Morning."_ Staff Sergeant Neha Patil said with a smile. "Looks like she's finally awake sir."

_"Good morning, sleeping beauty. We're almost there. So, you might wanna freshen up."_ Arjun said as he looked back. "Neha, give her something to drink, she may be parched."

"Yes, sir." S/Sgt. Patil said as she gave the elf a flask containing water. The elf looked at it suspiciously but a smile from Recon Team One's female combat medic convinced her that it may not be harmful.

* * *

**In a tavern of a different village in the Saderan Empire.**

_"What?! They drove off a flame dragon?!"_ The crowd asked in surprise.

_"Yeah, that's right! I saw it myself!"_ The woman serving drinks replied. She was one of the villagers who fled Coda Village with her son and husband, both of whom miraculously escaped the flame dragon's wrath with little to no injuries.

_"You don't expect us to believe that, do you?" _One of the patrons asked.

_"Why, it is very much true!" _The woman shot back.

_"You sure you weren't knocked out and dreamed the whole thing?"_ Another patron asked mockingly with the entire tavern exploding in laughter.

_"Well then, don't believe me. See if I care." _The woman said as she turned back with a huff and continued her job.

On one of the tables of the tavern, a group of four individuals was sitting with pensive expressions. These four people were the Imperial Princess Pina Co Lada, her personal aide, Hamilton, The Princess' military advisor, Gray Co Aldo, and a member of the Princess' Order of the Rose Knights, Norma.

_"What do you think?"_ Hamilton asked the group.

_"What do I think?"_ Norma asked back before giving his answer. _"This tavern is filthy, and both the beer and the food are nasty."_

_"Norma, we are on a secret mission to Alnus Hill and we're talking about the flame dragon over here,"_ Gray said sternly.

_"You're all too loud." _Princess Pina said before motioning Hamilton to continue.

_"The rumor has already spread like wildfire across the Empire's domains and beyond. A band of mercenaries in strange green clothing, while evacuating the residents of Coda Village, actually drove off the legendary Fire Dragon. They say these mercenaries were assisted by large flying swords which flew at incredible speeds and heights. Furthermore, they say, that the price those mercenaries took, was the Fire Dragon's left arm."_ Hamilton recounted all the rumors around the Empire.

_"There are all kinds of dragons you know. From ancient dragons to newborn ones. Then there is again the wyverns and drakes used by our Imperial Army's air units."_ Norma responded, as he still thought all of these rumors were nothing but a bunch of baloney.

_"Oh, it was a real fire dragon all right, sir."_ The waitress said as she refilled the drinks in the Imperials' table.

_"Oh please. You can't fool me!" _Norma said with a scoff.

_"Like I said. I saw it with my eyes. So did my son and husband, and all the other survivors of Coda Village."_ The waitress replied back.

_"Could you please tell us more about the people who drove the dragon back?"_ Hamilton asked.

_Hmm. I really can't remember. The details are kinda fuzzy."_ The waitress replied.

_"Don't worry. I believe you."_ Hamilton said as she twirled a gold coin across her fingers. The coin was subsequently snatched by the waitress.

_"Why thank you, young knight! It's all coming back to me now!"_ The waitress said with a cheer. _"I'll tell you a special story then."_

_"That day, when the dragons attacked us, they saved us! Not only did they control large metal birds that flew high in the sky and unleashed their own brand of destructive magic on the dragon. However, the thing that truly drove the dragon away, while taking it's left arm as payment for daring to challenge the 'Men in Green' was that magical weapon. The Iron Cock! It was quite a big one as well, yessiree. That's the only thing till date that has ever made my husband insecure. Not that I blame him."_

The last part made Gray and Norma spit out their drinks, while Pina and Hamilton looked confused. _"What's wrong?"_ Hamilton asked.

_"N-Nothing."_ Gray and Norma said together before turning to the waitress. _"Please continue."_

_"Tell me, are you Knights acquainted with the 25th Imperial Scouting Unit?"_ The waitress asked.

_"Yes. The 25th Imperial Scouting Unit is a proud scouting unit which has obtained many military decorations throughout the history of the Empire."_ Gray replied. _"The Unit Commander is a really good friend of mine."_

_"Oh dear."_ The waitress said with a worried frown. _"Please allow me to be the first person then, to relay my condolences."_

_"What's wrong miss?"_ Pina asked.

_"Well you see, when those 'Men in Green' came to our village, the 25th Imperial Scouting Unit had also arrived just an hour after them…"_ The waitress said before trailing off.

_"And?"_ Gray asked with apprehension.

_"The 'Men in Green' didn't show any mercy to the 25th Imperial Scouting Unit and killed them to the last man."_ The waitress said while not noticing the look of shock on the faces of her customers. _"Apparently, the Emperor had ordered scorched-earth tactics, and that type of retaliation was the 'Men in Green's' reply."_

_"What about the commander?"_ Gray asked. _"Six men are normally supposed to protect him."_

_"The leader of the 'Men in Green' was the one who chased them down and killed the Scouting Unit Commander's bodyguards singlehanded. Before he dragged the commander into one of the houses. I don't know what happened, but in the end, only the leader of those 'Men in Green' came out of the house. The only thing was that his fists were coated red with blood."_ The waitress explained.

_"How do you know all this?"_ Princess Pina asked.

_"Because I saw it. I was hiding nearby when I saw it. To be honest, the 25th Imperial Scouting Unit never stood a chance against the 'Men in Green'."_ The waitress replied.

_"The leader. How did he look like?"_ Gray asked as an ominous shadow covered his eyes.

_"Hm… Honestly, that man was very scary to look at. You could say he didn't have a face. The place where his eyes were supposed to be was the place where I could see my own face. He definitely looked like a demon. He also fought like one. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."_ The waitress replied before turning back to return to her job. Her statement was only a half-truth, however, as she did see Major Arjun Khare's face when he was helping the men to bury the dead, but she decided to not spill the beans on her savior's identity.

As the four people from the Empire continued to replay the words they just heard in their mind, a cloaked figure got up from his seat and quietly made his way out of the tavern and went to a quiet spot in the small town. Over there, he handed a piece of paper to another hooded figure and told him a few instructions. The hooded figure nodded before he disappeared in the shadows. A few minutes later, even the cloaked person walked towards the busy marketplace, where he casually swiped an apple and took a bite out of it. Soon enough, even this cloaked figure disappeared in the crowd.

* * *

**Command Centre, Fort Alnus, Alnus Hill.**

"WHO GAVE YOU THE FUCKING AUTHORITY TO BRING IN REFUGEES?!" Brigadier Valkar yelled at Major Arjun Khare.

"Whoops," Arjun replied as his superior officer continued his rant. Arjun was patiently waiting for the rant to finish, after which he would give his side of the story. However, before that could happen, the Brigadier's telephone rang. Arjun knew that whatever instructions were coming through would either help him or doom him.

Once Brigadier Valkar put the phone down, he said, "Go explain your case to the Lieutenant-General himself now. Good luck and dismissed." Arjun immediately gave a salute that was returned by Brigadier Valkar, after which Arjun turned to go straight to the big boss' office.

When he reached there, the Lt. Gen's private secretary saluted him and told him to go inside. Arjun did so once he knocked twice and received a 'come in'. "Major Arjun Khare, reporting in, sir," Arjun said as he saluted.

"At ease Major. I was just going through your file just now. Excellent stuff, I must say. No wonder you are considered one of the best of the best of the PARA SF." Lt. Gen. Vikram Patel said. "So, what explanation will you give me for this mess? You know very well, that we don't have the clearance for refugees."

"Yes, sir. I do know that." Maj. Arjun replied.

"Good. Then you have 24 hours to get rid of them." The Lt. Gen. said.

"About that sir… did you read the reports?" Arjun asked.

"Yes. I did." Came the reply.

"There's one thing I deliberately left out of it," Arjun confessed.

"That is?"

"They have slaves, sir," Arjun said.

"Why should I care?" Lt. Gen. Patel asked.

"Because many of them are Indian citizens. Kidnapped during the Empire's attack on New Delhi." Arjun replied. "Our deployment here has just turned into a rescue mission."

"Explain." Lt. Gen. Patel ordered.

"According to the refugees that I have got in with my team, the Empire has a very bad habit of looting and plundering. All the people that have been deemed 'Missing' back home are probably here. One of them said, that the men are usually sent to work in the mines, while the women are sold to brothels or as personal sex slaves for rich nobles and senators. Furthermore, even kids go through the same treatment."

"Well shit. You do know, the media is gonna start a real shit storm with this piece of news." Lt. Gen. Patel said. "Very well. I'll allow these refugees on humanitarian grounds. For now, they can use spare tents and will be guarded 24/7. Unfortunately, this will also mean that UN Inspectors from the Human Rights Foundation will be sent to keep an eye on us."

"Well sir, we ain't exactly hoping for something as bad as the Syrian Refugee Crisis to take place," Arjun said.

"You were also aware of the fact that many of our soldiers are still having trouble with that language barrier, didn't you?" The Lt. Gen. asked. "That's why you got them in as refugees so that the Empire doesn't cry foul by saying that we are kidnapping their citizens."

"That's correct sir," Arjun replied. "Furthermore, the Empire has already made a lot of enemies in this conflict."

"By enemies you mean the other allied Kingdoms?" Lt. Gen. Patel asked.

"Yes sir," Arjun replied. "You might have heard that saying, 'An enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Right now, out of all the other Allied Kingdoms, King Duran of Elbe is the only one alive and definitely commands the respect of the other Kingdoms."

"Get to the point Major." Lt. Gen. Patel ordered.

"What if we incite a civil war. Persuade King Duran that we are ready to honor our peace agreement if he and the other Kingdoms would also help us in crippling the Empire. If we can do that right now, they would definitely agree."

"So taking refugees in, is the first step in winning the hearts and minds of the populace, so they would revolt against the Empire. Good thinking, Major. I like it." Lt. Gen. Patel said. "You can go, Major. As for the refugees, I'm putting you in charge to make sure they get all the necessary items they would need. Dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," Arjun replied as he gave a salute.

* * *

**A few minutes later.**

"Alright, Neha and Rekha will get some rations from the mess hall. Meanwhile, I want our engineers, Yusuf and Pramod to get tents from the post engineer. The rest will help in setting up the tents, while I drown my sorry carcass in the necessary paperwork. Now scram, all of you." Arjun ordered a few members of his team.

"Roger that." They replied as they saluted and left to their tasks.

"Yo, Major Khare." A voice called from behind Arjun. Arjun turned back to see his Special Forces CO, Colonel Abhinav Singhania. Arjun immediately saluted to his CO. "At ease, kid. Walk with me." The colonel ordered as he led the PARA SF member to the roof.

"So, how's your new team?" Colonel Singhania asked.

"They're good," Arjun replied. "All of them are competent and are giving their all."

"You remember that Saderan Military Fort?" Colonel Singhania asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"The higher-ups are planning to conduct an airstrike on that fort."Col. Singhania said. "Recon Teams 2 and 4 will be directing them and will possibly capture the stragglers, if any, for interrogation."

"Airstrikes? Sounds like a good plan." Arjun said. "Any particular reason you told me this?"

"Nah. But let me tell you about something else. Our aerial recon planes came across a crazy piece of information." Col, Singhania said.

"What's that?" Arjun asked.

"The gate that opened in New Delhi, is not the only one." Col. Singhania stated.

"What?" Arjun asked with wide eyes.

"Your team left those villagers at this barren rock desert called Roche Hill, correct?" Arjun nodded in the positive. "Just 50 Kilometres from there, is a place called the Avontham Valley. We got pictures of another armed contingent there. If you want to put it in context, the weapons and ammunition of these mysterious third players would easily be from a period of early to the mid-18th century."

"Early to mid-18th century is a long time, boss. Lot's of shit happened in that much time back in our world." Arjun stated.

"True. Our analysts are still trying to identify their weapons, but it is being speculated that they are looking at muskets. Specifically, the French made Charleville muskets and the Austrian made Potzdam muskets." Col. Singhania said.

"But that is still speculation, right?" Arjun asked. He received a nod from his CO. "What else was noted?"

"Here." Col. Singhania said as he handed a few photos to Arjun. Arjun noted the armaments used by the mysterious third party. There were many 18 pounds and 24 pounds cannons along with mortars that were definitely being used as artillery. Along with lines of soldiers practicing military drills.

"Well, these guys sure are serious about whatever it is they're doing," Arjun said. "I would at first speculate these guys to be the British Army during the colonial era and before, but none of them are wearing red coats. They're wearing… Orange? Boss, who the hell are these guys?"

"That's what we want to find out as well." Col. Singhania said as he took the photos back from Arjun. "Arjun, keep your team ready. I won't be surprised if they send you guys out to unearth the identity of our mysterious party."

"Roger that," Arjun said. "Boss, you think I can keep a copy of those photographs?"

"Sure. I'll have copies made of these photos and distribute it amongst all of the Recon Team leaders. You guys would be better prepared if you did your homework." Col. Singhania replied.

"Yes sir," Arjun said while saluting to his CO. Col. Singhania returned the salute and made his way to the door of the roof. However, just before he went through the door, he gave a final piece of advice to his subordinate.

"Arjun, in a few days, you and the other Recon Team leaders are going to be given a wide berth of freedoms to act. Put it to good use."

"Well that's something to look forward to then, sir," Arjun replied.

* * *

**The next day.**

Lelei and Sage Cato could only look on in awe, as the Indian Army's earth diggers started digging up the land to make living spaces for the refugees. Sage Cato decided to catch a nap while Lelei spotted Tuka standing a few feet away from her looking at the construction.

_"Is something wrong?"_ Lelei asked Tuka, as she approached her.

_"No,"_ Tuka replied. _"It's just that when my dad hears he missed something like this, he'll be sorely disappointed. I will have to tell him about this later."_

_'But wasn't she the only survivor?'_ Lelei wondered in her head.

"Hey, kids! Get away from here! It's dangerous!" One of the drivers yelled as he moved his hand in a shooing motion. The man was helped by a few other soldiers who told them, to the best of their language abilities, to leave the construction area or they could get hurt.

Since it was already close to lunchtime, Arjun gathered all the refugees and took them to an outdoor table where food for the refugees was prepared by the chefs in the mess hall. Following Arjun's permission, the refugees dug in, with Sage Cato loudly shouting about how delicious the bread was. Arjun was happy to see that everyone found the food delicious and were also very thankful for it. Their reactions once again made Arjun wonder how tough is life for these people, that something as normal as a warm full lunch made them jump with joy. However, Arjun knew he couldn't dwell too much time on those thoughts, as he had much more important things to do.

_"Hey, Sage Cato and Rory Mercury,"_ Arjun called to the two individuals who were discussing something along with Tuka and Lelei.

_"Yes?"_ Cato asked. _"Is something wrong?"_

_"No. Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask you guys about something. About a location in this continent. You guys free right now?"_ Arjun asked.

_"Of course,"_ Cato said, with the other three also nodding.

_"Brilliant,"_ Arjun said as he took a seat on their table and placed a file in front of them.

_"So, before I open that file and its contents, I want to ask. Do you guys know a place called the Avontham Valley?"_ Arjun asked the group.

_"Yes. It is just eight leagues away from where your team left the Coda villagers who wished to continue their journey on their own after the flame dragon was driven away."_ Rory replied.

_"Yes. That's true."_ Arjun said as he opened the file and showed them a photograph. _"This is the gate, right here at Alnus Hill. The photo was taken by one of our aerial recon planes."_ Arjun then showed them another photo. _"You guys know where this is?"_

_"Impossible."_ Rory murmured.

_"Why?"_ Arjun asked.

_"The Avontham Valley is just a barren desert of rock. Unlike Alnus Hill, it does not have any religious or political value to the Empire."_ Rory replied.

_"Are you sure?" _Arjun asked. _"Is it possible that the Empire had something to do with it?"_

_"No. That is impossible. Even with the many mages who are employed by the Empire, no one could replicate the Gate. Except for its original creator."_ Rory replied.

_"Who?" _Arjun asked.

_"None other than the Goddess of Death, Hardy. She is the only one who could have made a completely new gate in the Avontham Valley. It is highly possible that she also orchestrated the Empire to pick a fight with whoever is on the other side of that gate. Just like they did with your country."_ Rory explained.

_"So basically you're saying that because of this Hardy, the Empire believes it can pick a fight with whoever they damn please and are now definitely paying the price for it?"_ Arjun asked.

_"Something like that," _Rory replied.

_"I see. Thanks y'all."_ Arjun said as he got up from the chair and made his way to his office. He had a preliminary report to write after all.

* * *

**A few days later. The newly opened 'Special Region Bath'.**

"So, what happened after that?" 1LT Dharya Malhotra asked Sgt. Santosh Gupta as they entered the bath from the locker rooms.

"Well, my mom got pissed, my sister chased me throughout the house and our dog thought we were playing a game of tag and started chasing us as well." Sgt. Gupta replied as he turned towards the bath. However, the sight made his jaw drop. "Holy shit! That's a really cool tattoo."

"Hm?" Arjun looked behind him to see two of his subordinates. "Oh, it's Pops and Santosh. What's up?"

"Oh, sir. Didn't know you were here." 1LT Malhotra said.

"That's okay. I was just about to leave. I've been here for an hour now, and the Lt. Gen. is calling all Recon Team leaders that are in base to the briefing room." Arjun replied as he fastened the towel that was covering the lower half of his body. "Were you guys just complimenting the irezumi tattoo on my back and chest?"

"Sir, that's an irezumi?" Sgt. Gupta asked with a child-like wonder.

"Yep. An authentic one. I got it back in my uni days when I was in Japan for a year as an exchange student." Arjun replied.

"Wait. Don't the Japanese have an apprehension towards people with tattoos?" 1LT Malhotra asked.

"You have no idea how hard it was for me to keep it hidden," Arjun said with a sigh.

"Who is it depicting?" Arjun asked.

"It's basically depicting Enma-sama, the ruler and judge of Hell according to East Asian and Buddhist mythology. You can compare him to Yama, the Lord of Death according to Hindu mythology. These guys on my upper arms are the guardians of hell, Gozu, or Ox-Head, and Mezu, or Horse-Face." Arjun explained while pointing to every being depicted on it.

"Damn, that's cool." Sgt. Gupta said. "So your parents actually allowed you to make one like that?"

"Yep," Arjun replied. "Though they were about to stop me when they heard how expensive it would be. Not that I really cared, I was working in a 24x7 Convenience Store every day. So I had some money."

"Lucky. My parents sure got mad at me when I got my first tattoo." Sgt. Gupta said as he pointed a small tattoo on his wrist.

"And my parents would have definitely disowned me for even thinking about getting a single drop of ink anywhere near my skin, let alone something that big all across my back and arms." 1LT Malhotra said. "How did you explain this to the guys at medical during your training?"

"Well, they did go in a frenzy when they saw this bad boy on me. But, I just sweet-talked my way out of it. Furthermore, since it is on my back and upper arms, they can't be seen. So I'm not violating any protocol on this." Arjun explained. "Well, time to go. You guys have fun here." Arjun said before leaving the bathroom and going to the locker room where his clothes were kept.

* * *

**En-route to the briefing room. Fort Alnus.**

"Hey there Neha," Arjun said as he left the laundry room, where he dumped his clothes in the washing machine and ended up bumping into his teams' combat medic.

"Oh, sir. Actually, I was looking for you." S/Sgt. Patil said.

"Why?" Arjun asked.

"It's Tuka, sir. The elf we rescued." S/Sgt. Patil replied.

"Is she okay?" Arjun asked.

"Physically, yes. Mentally, I don't think so." S/Sgt. Patil said.

"How so?"

"Food, clothing, lodging, other items such as toiletries, she always requests portions that would be enough for two people. However, the second portion always remains untouched. And the clothes she requests for is always for men." S/Sgt. Patil replied.

"Hm. Did you ask her why?"

"I had Lelei ask her for me, but since she's still trying to learn English and Hindi, so she couldn't understand much. I asked Sage Cato for help as well, but all he said was that even amongst elves, Tuka's race is special and finished it at that." Came the reply.

"Hm… Either she has an imaginary boyfriend or the shock of possibly seeing her family, friends, and village be wiped out has scrambled her brains to the point that she's having delusions. Whatever it is, it's not good. Neha put her under observation and take action as you see fit. If you want to refer her to a proper psychologist, do so. You have my permission." Arjun said as he made his way to the briefing room.

"Thank you, sir," Neha said with a smile. "Also, are we going to have a new mission?"

"Most probably. Do me a favor and tell our team to be ready at any time." Arjun ordered as he made his way inside the briefing room. His subordinate replied in the affirmative while saluting him.

Once Arjun went into the briefing room, he nodded to the other four recon team leaders in the room and took a seat. Ten minutes later, Lt. Gen. Vikram Patel, Col. Abhinav Singhania and Brigadier Raghunath Valkar entered the room. Along with these three, four more unidentified men entered the room and sat down on the remaining chairs around the table. Arjun knew they weren't Recon Team leaders because Recon Teams 3, 5, 6, and 8 had left base just yesterday. Arjun made an educated guess that these people were either RAW or the Intelligence Bureau, however, Arjun was putting his money on RAW as the Intelligence Bureau only worked on collecting intelligence from within India's borders (something similar to the American FBI or the British MI5). Once everyone was seated, the meeting began.

"Gentlemen, as I'm sure you're all aware by now, our war with the Saderan Empire has a mysterious third player in it." Lt. Gen. Patel said. "For the past several days, we conducted aerial reconnaissance on their activities and even sent in a team of RAW agents to scope them out. I'll pass it on to our representative from RAW who will explain further."

The RAW representative got up from his seat and started a presentation. "Thank you, sir. So as he said, we sent a group of field agents to scope them out and also managed to set up surveillance tech in a few areas around their camps. Initial guesses about them being from the 18th century have proven true. Any questions till now?"

"I do," Arjun said as he raised his hand. "If these guys are from the 18th Century, what year are these people from and why are their unforms so unfamiliar?"

"I'm getting to that part Major." The RAW representative replied. "According to a few snippets of their conversation we managed to hear, it is the year 1735 for these people."

"What happened in the year 1735 again?" One of the Recon Team leaders asked.

"The war of the Polish Succession." One of the new arrivals replied. "If you're wondering who I am, I'm representing the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in this meeting."

"Thank you, sir." The RAW representative said. "In addition to the year, we managed to also click photos of their flag from our cameras." The RAW representative then turned the slide to show a series of photo of a flag that was rectangular in shape and was colored in saffron. What caught everyone's attention was the golden-colored 24-spoke wheel. It took a while for it to click in everyone's head, but when it did, everyone in the room took a deep breath as they immediately compared it to the navy blue color of the 24-spoke wheel or the _Ashoka Chakra_ on their national flag.

"Do you know who they are?" Lt. Gen. Patel asked.

"Not exactly. But we made a guess from their language." The RAW representative said as he played an audio clip. The audio-only talked about a mundane topic that was definitely being discussed by a few soldiers. What the topic was not of interest, but what language they were using.

"That's Marathi," Arjun said immediately after the clip got over. "It's a bit quick and it took me a while to pin it, but yes, without a shadow of a doubt, that's Marathi. One of the 23 official languages of our country and the official language alongside English and Hindi in the state of Maharashtra."

"The Major is correct." The MEA representative said. "But if they are speaking Marathi, then our mystery player is the Maratha Confederacy or the Maratha Empire, as it was called later on in our history."

"But even at its height, wasn't the Maratha Empire surrounded by enemies? Even if we don't include the scheming princes and governors who wanted a slice of the pie as well." One of the Recon Team leaders asked.

"What if…" Arjun started. "What if these guys are from an alternate history?"

"What do you mean Major Khare?" Lt. Gen. Patel asked.

"Does anyone know about the alternate timeline or the multiverse theory?" Arjun asked.

"You're talking about parallel universes?" The Raw representative asked.

"I know it sounds crazy, but yes." Arjun replied. "What if these guys are from a version of the Maratha Empire, that actually managed to make the English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese East India Companies to behave like proper companies and not have huge standing armies and navies like they did in our timeline. They also managed to, you know, somehow keep all those scheming governors at bay."

"And if they won't have that kind of military power, the Europeans wouldn't be able to dictate policies for their own benefits." The MEA representative continued. "Honestly, if all of this is true, everyone back home are gonna lose their minds over this."

"Exactly. Of course, this is only me speculating. I'm pretty sure the reason we were called here was to decide whether or not the remaining recon teams would go or not to this place." Arjun said.

"Indeed. How about we start discussing that now? Especially since we may have learned the identity of these guys." Lt. Gen. Patel said as everyone in the meeting got ready for what would definitely be a long day of discussion.

* * *

**Three nights earlier. Indian Air Force Station, Alnus Hill. Local time, 2300 Hrs.**

Two Sukhoi Su-30MKIs were sitting on the runway with a full tank of fuel and the full payload of their weapons. They were waiting for Warlord to give them the green light to start their mission. Their mission was fairly simple. All they had to do was carry out airstrikes on the Saderan Military Fort that was passed by Recon Team 1 several days ago. It was discovered that the name of this fort was Fort Mercurius and was among 13 of such forts that dotted the Empire. The higher-ups were aware of this fort's existence but were not sure what to do. Some wanted to bomb the fort outright, while some wished to send in the PARA SF to capture the fort. It was ultimately decided that RAW would send in a strike team that comprised of their agents and the 4th Platoon of PARA SF 21, who would try to cut down a few of them and collect as much information as possible, before leaving the fort. After that Recon Teams 3 and 5 would collect the information and any VIP before giving the green light to Fort Alnus that the airstrike could be carried out. After the airstrike, any stragglers would be killed by the ground teams and the strike teams would return in Chinook helicopters, while the Recon Teams would bring back the info and VIP if any.

The pilots didn't have to wait long, as Warlord's voice came in through their comms.

"Tiger 1 and Tiger 2, you have received green light for carrying out airstrikes on Fort Mercurius. I repeat you have received green light for carrying out airstrikes on Fort Mercurius. Have fun, boys." Warlord said.

"Roger that Warlord. Received permission to carry out airstrikes on Fort Mercurius. We're on the move." Tiger 1 said as the two fighter jets started to pick up their speed and were soon off the tarmac and into the air. At their current speed, the Sukhoi 30s were expected to reach their target in 10 minutes. That is why neither crews of the jets bothered with any useless chit-chat and kept their minds focused towards their mission.

Meanwhile, just 4 clicks away from Fort Mercurius, Recon Teams 3 and 5 were waiting for the jets. Four members of the strike team had received injuries and were being treated by the Recon Teams' combat medics. Except for those injuries, the strike team's mission had gone without a hitch (if the few bouts of suppressed gunfire were ignored, that is). When the team was dropped 5 clicks away from the fort, they quickly traversed the open plain and reached the tall walls in ten minutes. After the team climbed the fort, the guards and lookouts were quickly killed and their bodies were dropped from the wall. Soon enough, the strike team quickly captured the higher most levels of the fort. The team then divided themselves into groups of two and spread out across the fort, where they silently killed all the human sentries on duty.

Things almost turned for the worst, when the werewolf lookalikes were woken up by their sensitive hearing and smell and almost raised the alarm. However, after the aforementioned bouts of suppressed gunfire, the werewolf lookalikes were killed and the entire team blew a massive sigh of relief. Of course, this ended up with four members injuring themselves, but not bad enough to not continue the mission. Soon the teams reached a room that contained many official-looking documents. They confirmed this once they saw the Imperial seals on those documents. Basically, it meant that these documents could be valuable intel.

Soon, the commander of the strike team and his partner reached the room of the Fort Commander. A quick scan confirmed that the only person in the room was the commander himself, this made the two men go inside his chambers and the strike team commander pulled the fort commander's pillow from under his head and started to suffocate him. That was until the strike team commander's partner brandished a saucepan from… somewhere and hit it over the Fort commander's head with a loud thunk. Once the man was knocked out, the two Indian men took the Fort Commander out of his room and to the upper levels, where they tied him up and lowered him with the same ropes they climbed up with. Once the Fort commander and all the written documents were safely secured, the Indian strike team made their way out of the fort, but not before planting an extensive amount of C4 explosives on the fort's support beams and structures.

Soon, the ground teams received a transmission. "Strike Team Zero and Recon Teams 3 and 5, this is Tiger 1 and Tiger 2. We're one minute out. Requesting you to light up our target."

"Roger that Tiger 1 and Tiger 2. Get ready for a fireworks display." The strike team commander said as he signaled his men to detonate the C4. 10 seconds later, loud explosions rang out from Fort Mercurius, as the main structure of the fort went up in a ball of flames. This was accompanied by a sharp noise as the Sukhois came into view and each dropped their payloads of two KH-59 missiles on the fort. The fort once again blew up with a massive pillar of flame. Knowing that no one would have survived C4 explosives and air-to-ground missiles in quick succession, the two Sukhois made their way back to Alnus Air Force Base.

Meanwhile, the ground team waited for 30 minutes, waiting for anyone to survive that assault. However, no one came out and the same thing was reported to Warlord, who ordered the teams as well to return to base. The Indian forces could rest easy knowing that the enemy would have no way now to attack them without giving up their positions first.

Unknown to the Indian forces, a unit of soldiers from the Avontham valley, who were tasked to remain as scouts to keep a watch on the activities of the garrison of Fort Mercurius, witnessed the destruction caused by the planes of the Indian Air Force. While they were indeed horrified by it, they were nonetheless extremely impressed by the finesse and efficiency of the ground troops and the final coup-de-grace by the jets. Seeing that the object of their observation was now nothing more than a burning pile of rubble, the unit made their way back to their own Fort at Avontham Valley.

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_AN- This chapter got over really quickly. I'll be deviating a bit from the original. However, don't worry, the battle of Italica will still happen._


	7. Author's note: Alternate Timeline

_AN:- Hey everyone! I hope you're all okay. So, I know you guys have been waiting for an update to this story. But here's the thing, I had a crazy idea and started working on an alternate timeline. This alternate timeline is constructed from various sources which include: my gameplay of Total War: Empire, _Lionheart's Ultimate History of Maratha_ a project by A Humble Pear, the timeline of the Hearts of Iron 4 Mod: Après Moi le Déluge and actual historical events._

_At first, I wanted to show the year for the Marathas as 1735 (as it's already mentioned in the previous chapter), but for some reason, I decided to instead expand on the timeline and managed to finish the timeline at 19365. If I use the timeline ending in 1936, I'll most probably set it in the 1960s (Of course, I'll have to think up scenarios for it). I will tell you this, there may be inconsistencies. If you find any, do comment on it and let me know._

_My question to you guys is, which scenario should I use? Should I continue using the 1735 setting or should I use this 1960s setting, but change the previous chapters?_

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**Alternate History of the Maratha Empire/****HOI4 Mod: Après Moi le Déluge**

1700 A.D.\- 25-year-old Tarabai, the widow of Chhatrapati Rajaram of the House of Bhosle, is crowned as the Queen-Regent of the Maratha Confederacy following the death of her husband.

Successful trade negotiations with Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire.

The Marathas under General Rustam Akurdikar, capture the province of Ahmednagar, cutting off supplies of the small Mughal armies that were raiding settlements continuously.

1701 A.D.\- A siege of Ahmednagar under Mughal General Kam Daraz is repelled by the army of Rustam Akurdikar.

1702 A.D.\- The Mughal garrison at Ahmedabad accept Balkrishna Indukuri, another Maratha General's terms of surrender.

Weeks later, Balkrishna Indukuri attacks and captures Udaipur.

A few months later, negotiations for allowing the Portuguese military access for five years, in exchange for gold fail, as the emissary of Portugal and the newly arrived emissary of the Kingdom of Mysore declare their countries intention of war against the Confederacy. This triggered the Maratha-Portuguese and the Maratha-Mysore Wars.

1703 A.D.\- War between the Maratha Confederacy and Portugal & Mysore begins in earnest after Queen-Regent Tarabai made the unthinkable decision to sue for peace with the Mughal Empire, a decision that was gladly accepted by the Mughals as they were facing their own internal problems.

A Marathi force of 7000 men, under the command of General Jainil Rawat crushed the Portuguese forces in Goa. The Battle for Goa ended the Portuguese offensive before it even began.

Months later, France and the United Province also declared war against the Marathas. Spies in Lisbon reported that the remaining army in Portugal had sailed, no doubt making their way to India. Furthermore, the Maratha garrison at Arcot had been hopelessly crushed by Mysore.

1704 A.D.\- The city of Mysore is captured by the soldiers of Jainil Rawat and the Royal Family of Mysore flee to their remaining province of Arcot, Carnatica.

1705 A.D.\- The highly secretive सैन्य खुफिया कार्यालय (Office of Military Intelligence) is founded. They specialised in espionage, sabotage and assassination with the Director-General of this organisation reporting directly to the Empress.

Meanwhile, the chasing Marathi forces under Jainil Rawat don't relent until they reach Arcot and decisively defeat the Mysore forces, thus ending the Maratha-Mysore war and completely destroying the Royal line of Mysore, as the Royal Family is publicly executed for treason against the Marathas.

1706 A.D.\- The Maratha's first naval engagement against the Dutch ends in defeat, as three ships flying the flag of the United Province deliver a crushing defeat to the inexperienced Maratha seamen who were occupying a trade outpost in the East Indies. The Maratha would hit back a few months later when a small fleet under the command of one Admiral Katari destroyed the fleet of the Dutch aggressors. This battle allowed Queen-Regent Tarabai to begin a process of aggressive trade expansion in the East Indies.

Meanwhile, Jainil Rawat's army sailed from mainland India and set up camp in the beaches of Ceylon. In the intervening months between 1706 and 1707, Jainil Rawat's OMI attaché informed him about the Dutch army that was in the port had now made their way to the capital of the province, Trincomalee. Acting on this information, Jainil Rawat planned accordingly.

1707 A.D.\- Capture of Trincomalee, Ceylon and the expulsion of the Dutch from the Indian Subcontinent.

French siege of Satara (later on it would be called the First Siege of Satara). Under the leadership of Malharro Malwade and the Empress herself, the Marathas won a costly battle against the French army under the leadership of Phillipe de Ventreuil. Furthermore, Queen-Regent Tarabai also earned a title, "The Tigress of the Maratha" and General Malharro Malwade being called "The Saviour of Satara".

After de Ventreuil's forces retreated to the French held port of Vengurla, he had to face the fresh forces of Rustam Akurdikar and also deal with the naval blockade of Vengurla by the Marathi navy to prevent any of the French troops to leave the port alive. It would be in this battle, that General Phillipe de Ventruile would be killed after being subjected to a number of volleys by the Maratha's Bargir Line Infantry. During the battle on land, the Maratha navy would make quick work of the French navy ships that had got de Ventruile's army to India in the naval battle of Vengurla.

The aftermath of these battles saw the end of the Franco-Maratha War after Queen-Regent Tarabai offered peace and a trade agreement to King Louis XIV of France. The French replied with a request of a military alliance, which the Queen-Regent accepted but left her court startled and flummoxed. The reason for this was simple, Queen-Regent Tarabai was looking to reignite the war between the Marathi and the Mughals.

To try to divide the Maratha Court, the Mughals release Shahuji, the son of Sambhaji, the second ruler of the Maratha Confederacy following the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji, and Tarabai's nephew who had been a prisoner of the Mughals. However, on his way to Satara he is assassinated by thuggees paid by the OMI.

1708 A.D.\- In the summer of 1708, Empress Tarabai's son, Raghunath turns 12. Her step-son, Rajaram turns 10.

Even though it was orchestrated by them, the Maratha Confederacy use the assassination of Shahuji as cassus belli to once again declare war against the Mughals.

In October, war restarts between the Maratha Confederacy (with the backing of France) and the Mughal Empire. This would be known as the Second Maratha-Mughal War. The war opened with the Mughal navy trying to engage the French navy who retreated a long distance away from the range of the Mughal ships. Since that failed, the Mughal navy blockaded two important Marathi ports but were swiftly crushed by Admiral Gopal Valivarti.

1709 A.D.\- In the spring of 1709, following information received from the OMI, General Rustam Akurdikar's army of 4150 troops intercepted a Mughal army of 7780 troops under the command of General Quazi Jang. While managing to attain a victory, Satara once again came under siege by another Mughal army. This time under the command of General Musrat Daraz. This was a very expensive victory for the Marathas as their victory was very close. Queen-Regent Tarabai managed to maintain herself and converted her boiling rage into a cold fury as she ordered her troops in the south, under the command of General Jainil Rawat to capture the great Mughal stronghold of Hyderabad.

In the winter, Jainil Rawat was met with the army of Ram Shafi, against whom he won comfortably. However, the Battle of Krishna River saw the Hero of the South, General Rawat killed in action but only after his heavily outnumbered army crippled the defenders of Hyderabad beyond repair.

It didn't take long for General Rawat's body to arrive back to Satara where it remained in-state for three days before his body was burnt on the pyre for his state funeral that was attended by the Empress and her family.

General Akurdikar's forces meet Quazi Jang's forces recuperating in the educational town of Kolhapur, where Akurdikar's forces systematically slaughter Jang's forces. Quazi Jang is himself killed after a cannonball directly strikes his elephant.

Balkrishna Indukuri's forces defeat a combined Mughal army under Kam Daraz in the plains of Gujarat. Kam Daraz is killed after he and his bodyguards are surrounded and fired upon by Hindu Musketeers.

1710 A.D.\- The garrison of the Mughal stronghold of Hyderabad surrender to the army from Mysore under General Animesh Bhosle. This was a critical blow to the Mughals as one of their strongest strongholds fell without any resistance.

Balkrishna Indukuri's army capture the capital of the Mughals, Akbarabad of the Hindustan province and the Imperial family flees to Lahore in the Punjab region. However, the atrocities committed by the Maratha Army in Delhi under orders of General Indukuri were so vile that it was said that even the Persians would rather have Rustam Akurdikar invade them instead of Balkrishna Indukiri.

Meanwhile, the Mughals hit back by capturing Udaipur.

1712 A.D.\- Balkrishna Indukuri's army crushes a rebellion in the province of Hindustan after they raid various farms and settlements throughout the region. The rebellion had risen in response of the General's treatment of the inhabitants of the province's capital of Delhi. The fifty men that had survived, were hung, drawn and quartered, and their heads were put on pike and were placed all over the city in public view. When tales of the atrocities were told in the courts of nations such as the United Kingdom and France, it was said that even their King's and their nobilities' jaws dropped in horror and fear.

Rustam Akurdikar's army takes a ship to Sindh where they land in a beach in order to launch an attack on the region's capital.

Queen-Regent Tarabai expressed displeasure at General Indukuri's actions, but decided to not take any action against him as long as he continued to win battles for the Maratha. But to keep him on a leash, she appoints General Rustam Akurdikar as _Sardar Senapati_ or Commander-in-Chief, thus putting Indukuri under Akurdikar's control. This decision also served as an indirect warning to General Indukuri to let him know that while there was a vocal minority supporting his actions, not everyone were pleased. This along with an 'advisor' being sent to him made General Indukuri know that he was on a leash that would continue becoming shorter if he didn't play nice.

1713 A.D.\- In the East Indies, the Maratha navy take out a Dutch fleet over an island trading chillies.

After a battle with a small Mughal force a few kilometres away from Neeron Kot, Sindh, which saw the garrison also come in as reinforcements, General Akurdikar quickly captured Sindh after the defending mob gave their surrender because the garrison fled the city.

Balkrishna Indukuri captures Punjab. The remaining leadership of the Mughal Empire flees to Kashmir.

1714 A.D.\- Persia declares war against the Maratha Confederacy and starts assembling their troops across the Persian-Maratha border.

The Persians try to bring in their allies, the Ottoman Empire into the war. The Ottomans refuse, however, as they wish to continue the profitable trade agreement between themselves and the Confederacy.

The Ottomans, however, offer a military alliance to the Marathas but are declined as Queen-Regent Tarabai strokes the Ottoman envoy's ego by saying that she would definitely keep their good friends, the Ottoman Empire, and their offer in mind.

Meanwhile, Balkrishna Indukuri captures Kashmir. Animesh Bhosle begins the siege of Nagpur in the summer.

1716 A.D.\- At the turn of the year, the Mughal army garrisoned at Nagpur try to break the siege put on their city but are unsuccessful, as Animesh Bhosle defeats the 6400 strong army with his better equipped and better trained 7800 strong army. However, this victory came at a great cost of at least 4000 men of Bhosle's army due to friendly fire, and 1600 Mughals survived to fight another day. Bhosle managed to save some face among his fellow generals when he finally captured Nagpur in the summer with considerably less losses of only 800 men.

Following a report from the OMI about a massive Persian fleet in Ceylon and after a furious series of negotiations, Queen-Regent Tarabai managed to sue for peace with Persia with the payment of some gold and a land-based trade agreement. However, it was well known in both the Maratha and the Persian courts that this peace would be short-lived.

The winter saw General Anant Pasalkar battle and win against Daud Abdullah who could have been making his way to Satara.

The remnants of that Mughal army were wiped out by Malharrao Malwade, who had been ordered to garrison his troops to protect Satara.

1717 A.D.\- Military scientists of the Maratha Confederacy finally managed to study, research and apply the European tactics of 'Fire by rank' and for the line infantry. This doctrine is immediately applied to all the armies of the Maratha. They also managed to make advances in artillery doctrines by researching 'Explosive shells'.

Animesh Bhosle defeated a Mughal force holding a bridge, while a combined army of Balkrishna Indukuri, Rustam Akurdikar and Anant Pasalkar, which numbered up to 20,350 men brutally crushed a meager Mughal force of 7700 men just outside of the gates of Udaipur, a city that was immediately captured with little to no resistance. The only city held by the Mughals was now of Ujjain, in the region of Malwa.

1718 A.D.\- The capture of the region of Malwa, the last bastion of the Mughals in the summer, was the death knell of the once glorious Mughal Empire.

The four young princes of the now-deceased Emperor were placed under indefinite house arrest in Satara, where they were kept under guard 24/7, in relatively generous accommodations. In the words of Empress Tarabai to the four princes who were bought in the court of the Empress in heavy chains, the youngest of them was only nine-years-old, "We are not the Mughals. We will not take the lives of the innocent."

Queen-Regent Tarabai gave a highly confidential order to the Director-General of her Office of Military Intelligence. To secretly investigate the situation in the court of the Shah of Persia and to hold an internal investigation on all the nobles and Governors on the charges of corruption and also treason against the Confederacy to the Europeans or Persians.

Queen-Regent Tarabai also ordered an immediate audit of all the major highways across the country as she planned to have her realm be interconnected by a series of highway networks that would facilitate the quick mobility of goods and people across the country. She planned to have the highways be constructed in three stages. Basic roads, Cobbled roads, and Metalled roads. The Empress estimated her nation-wide highway network, including auditing and planning to be completed in three-four years.

1719 A.D.\- General Balkrishna Indukiri receives a letter directly from the Queen-Regent that contained her orders to establish the first Maratha colony overseas. The letter also stated where to go. The Dutch colony of Dutch Guyana. Especially since the war between the Maratha and the Dutch was still ongoing. General Indukiri's order stated that he was to immediately depart to South America once his army was fully replenished and properly supplied. The Fifth-rate ship of the Maratha Navy, the MCS (Maratha Confederate Ship) Vijay and her fleet, was ready to sail at the General's convenience.

General Balkrishna Indukiri set sail exactly one week after he received his new orders.

1720 A.D.\- The Queen-Regent received the report from her national highways audit and found that only three regions in her realm; Kashmir, Ceylon, and Sindh were using basic roads. The Empress immediately ordered those roads to be upgraded and funds to be set aside for further upgrading of the infrastructure.

The winter of 1720 saw the MCS Vijay carrying the troops of Balkrishna Indukiri land at Dutch Guyana. Indukiri saw a Spanish fleet blockading the Dutch territory of French Guyana while passing the region and ordered his men to be dropped at a beach near the port and the fleet to blockade the port.

Many farms and plantations back in India were also ordered to begin a process of upgrades, so they could have more yield. For this, the farmers were provided support from the Government.

1721 A.D.\- After raiding the port, General Indukiri's forces quickly crushed the inexperienced commanders and soldiers at Dutch Guyana with minimal losses and this victory allowed the Maratha Confederacy to establish their first colony in South America.

As summer ended, so did the fragile peace between Persia and India as Persia under the Safavid Dynasty declared war on the Maratha Confederacy. This was followed by a 6800 men strong Persian army under the command of Mehrak Mossadegh attacking and quickly capturing the city of Lahore, capital of the Punjab province. At the same time, another Persian army captured the region of Goa, an important trading region.

In the winter months, Deepak Jeldi led General Akurdikar's men to meet the Persian General Jahangir bin Arif. For the Marathas, this would be a close victory with General Akurdikar barely escaping with his life.

1722 A.D.\- General Anant Pasalkar's army defeats Shahan Bahrani's army in the plains of Gujarat.

Finally, Queen-Regent Tarabai received the final reports that she had requested five years ago from the OMI. All of them carefully written with more than adequate proof to warrant action against those named. With everything in place, the Queen-Regent called for a feast to mark the first anniversary of the end of the second Mughal-Maratha war. Especially after the continuous victories, the Maratha armies had won against the Persians. Every important statesman, noble and persons of importance were in attendance. It was to be noted that those who the Queen-Regent wanted to live were sent away from Satara to carry out administrative or other types of duties. The party continued until after the Queen-Regent's speech, where it was declared that the Marathas would no longer be a Confederacy but from now on, would be called the Maratha Empire. As the Queen-Regent finished her speech, she gave a silent signal and suddenly all the soldiers and agents of the OMI surrounded the guests. The Director-General, proclaimed every single guest in attendance to be guilty of corruption, embezzling public funds, and most importantly treason. After receiving a nod from the Empress, all the guests were slaughtered on the spot.

In the end, ten soldiers and five OMI agents lost their lives executing the traitors. However, Queen-Regent Tarabai had now successfully consolidated her position and all of the empty posts were very quickly filled up with people who would actually help to make the Empire stronger. A new flag that was secretly commissioned by the Empress was now unfurled in every region, army, and navy of the Maratha Empire. The new flag now had a golden Chakra (Wheel) with the usual Saffron background. Tarabai herself declared her title changed to Empress.

Meanwhile in South America, fearing the Marathas colonial expansions in the Americas and also hearing about the incident called 'The Great Purge' in the Maratha court, the Spanish Empire declared war on the newly declared Empire. The Maratha Empire or more accurately, General Balakrishna Indukuri, replied by invading and capturing the Spanish held French Guyana whose forces were under the command of Domingo Masdeau.

Another marauding Persian Army under Hormazed Sabiri attack the region of Sindh, whose garrison was under the command of the famous Maratha general Rustam Akurdikar. While outnumbered by 2 to 1, General Akurdikar still managed to win against the Persian forces while losing even less than a third of his forces.

A Persian army under the command of Naseem Bazergan attacks Akbarabad, the capital of the Hindustan province. The defenders under Chethan Kosaraju, manage to repel the attackers with minimal losses on the Maratha side.

The Maratha diplomats manage to convince the Spanish diplomats for a peace treaty, with the Marathas giving their technological secrets of 'Carbines' and 'Improved Grenades' for a peace treaty and a Trade Agreement.

Animesh Bhosle's troops, who were preparing to embark for the South Americas, was recalled to retake Goa from the Persians. Something that was easily accomplished by crushing the Persian force stationed there.

1723 A.D.\- The Persian navy of only three ships decimates the Maratha navy in the East Indies. Maratha Admiral Gopal Valivarthi dies in a legendary last stand.

Back to back battles of Chetan Kosaraju's forces against the Persian armies saw the Persian's advance halt.

1724 A.D.\- Aided by the melted snow, Kashmir is captured by the Persian forces.

Anant Pasalkar finally retakes Punjab, and under orders of Empress Tarabai, executes the Governor and his family on the charges of treason and for their role in Punjab falling so easily in the hands of the Persians.

Malharrao Malwade deals a devastating blow to the Persians by routing the enemy with musket and cannon fire.

1725 A.D.\- 25 years since the coronation of Empress Tarabai as first Queen-Regent then Empress of the then Maratha Confederacy.

Animesh Bhosle's army starts to march into Persia, their target being the capital of the Baluchistan region.

1726 A.D.\- Animesh Bhosle's army intercepts and defeats a Persian force coming out from Zahedan, Baluchistan who retreats but comes back as reinforcements for a smaller army.

The Maratha army wins a pyrrhic victory at the cost of General Animesh Bhosle himself being one of the fallen. General Bhosle's second-in-command, Balram Kodi, replaced his superior officer. This was later ratified by the Empress herself when she gave him the official command of Bhosle's army.

The Persian army in Kashmir surrenders to Anant Pasalkar, mainly because the Persian soldiers could not bear the cold Himalayan temperatures of Srinagar.

1727 A.D.\- After having his requests denied, again and again, Balkrishna Indukiri sends one final request to Satara to sanction him an invasion of Trinidad and Tobago, the island of the Pirate Republic. Once he sent in his request, Indukiri held an unsanctioned invasion of the capital and only island of the Pirate Republic. A week after the battle, Indukiri received a letter from the Maratha High Command, that his requests were denied. In reply, Balkrishna Indukiri sent the flag of the Pirate Republic, A Black Flag with a golden colored Jolly Roger.

In the Afghan region of the Persian Empire, Rustam Akurdikar defeated two Persian armies in quick succession and minimal losses while on his way to capture Kabul, the province of the Afghan region.

Malharrao Malwade decisively defeated Persian General Janagir bin Araf, who came back with fresh troops to retake Lahore for the Persian Empire.

1728 A.D.\- Naval Battle of Bombay. A Persian fleet blockading Bombay is defeated, with 4 out of 5 ships sunk and the last ship captured by the Marathas.

The Persian army, under Azimat Muhammadi, had accepted Anant Pasalkar's terms of surrender. OMI operatives reported that even two Kashmir winters didn't kill them off, and they were rather training to fight in such extreme conditions. Immediately, General Pasalkar leads his men to face them off in a battle where they are defeated in a close victory.

The Battle of Zahedan. General Kosaraju manages to defeat the Persian army stationed as a garrison in a close victory. The capture of Zahedan and its region marks the first time, the Marathas managed to one-up their enemy.

Kabul accepts Rustam Akurdikar's demand for surrender, thus cutting off the Persian armies who were raiding Indian farms, mines, and smaller towns, from the Persian Military High Command. After the surrender, General Akurdikar and a delegation consisting of all the leaders of the many tribes of the region hold a summit to discuss terms with even the former Governor of Kabul present. In the end, the battle-hardened leaders of the tribes agree to swear loyalty to Empress Tarabai and the Maratha Empire and even fight for the Marathas if they would promise to not forcefully try converting their religion, keep the current governor of Kabul in place, give the tribes a degree of autonomy from the Imperial Court at Satara and allow them to continue their current way of life without any obstruction. They also agreed to pay yearly tributes to the Governor, who would then pay it as a lump sum to the Maratha Court. The Afghans also agree to let a garrison of Marathi troops remain in Kabul to ensure local law and order in return for them to not interfere in the people of Kabul's day to day affairs. General Akurdikar accepts those terms while also making a counter-offer of allowing the tribesmen to send representatives to the Empress' court to make sure that their concerns would be addressed. He further promises, that the Imperial Maratha Army would also help in safeguarding the interests of the Afghan tribes. Thus, the 1728 Treaty of Kabul is signed and comes under effect seven months later once the Empress ratifies it with her signature. She is convinced to do so mainly because of the letter she received from General Akurdikar who wrote in painstaking detail about how tough the Afghans were and how they were much better as friends than enemies.

1729 A.D.\- Malharrao Malwade's forces finish off Jahangir bin Arif's army that was raiding towns across Punjab.

One of the last few attempts of the Persians to gain ground against the Marathas was to once again attack the heavily contested region of Punjab. The 5500 men strong Persian army under Faraz Hushmand did just that as winter started. However, the Persians would face an uphill battle as they had to not only face off against the 4500 men strong (and experienced and disciplined) troops of General Anant Pasalkar, but also deal with Malharrao Malwade's 4112 men who would provide reinforcements to General Pasalkar. The Maratha armies managed a very close victory that saw the death of Faraz Hushmand.

The Maratha naval fleet stationed at Vengurla port saw a new Admiral be appointed, Girish Saini. There were rumors amongst the seafarers that the higher-ups of the Maratha military were planning a beach landing in Persia, and needed a big fleet to counter the Persian fleet at Bandar Abbas.

1730 A.D.\- Fall of Isfahan, the capital of the Persian Empire and the seat of the Shah. Under General Balram Kodi, the Persian capital of Isfahan was finally captured by the Maratha Empire. The Shah and other high-ranking nobles fled to their only remaining region of Azerbaijan, where they would send diplomats to many countries, including the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire in seeking their assistance in putting a stop to the Maratha juggernaut. While Georgia would have been willing to help, they could no longer take any actions as they were now under the Russian Empire as their protectorates and Russia didn't want to be involved unless Georgia would actually be threatened. Russia was also dealing with problems of their own, mainly of Empress Anna Ivanova's succession to the throne after the succession struggle following the death of Peter II.

Many military and civilian leaders in the Maratha court breathed a sigh of relief when they were informed that Russia wanted nothing to do with their war with Persia. This was because many in the Maratha court believed Russia to be too big and cold to ever invade. This sentiment was even agreed upon by Empress Tarabai, as she always preferred to have a good relationship with the Northern Empire.

Balkrishna Indukiri captures the final settlement of the Dutch in the Americas, Punda, Curaçao. With the capture of the final Dutch holdings in America General Indukiri is ordered to train the troops and make sure the defenses are at its best, as it would be highly possible that if he would be called back, the Dutch or any other European power may attempt to retake their holdings.

A Maratha army under a newly promoted General, Baji Rao I stationed at Satara, was sent to Bandar Abbas by ship to relieve Balram Kodi from garrison duty in Isfahan so that he can make one final push to Azerbaijan and finish off the war between the Marathas and the Persians.

Taking the many losses at sea into account, Empress Tarabai ordered her Naval Secretary to start researching on ways to make the Maratha Navy a formidable power. A power that stood on the same level as their army and could easily take on ships from the British Royal Navy or any other European Power. She ordered him to do so, by any means necessary, even if it meant stealing technologies.

Punjab is finally secured after a 10000-man strong force led by Anant Pasalkar defeats a Persian force of approximately 7700 under the command of Mehrdad Azizi.

Rustam Akurdikar also adds to the Marathas' victory streak by defeating two armies in the Afghan region.

1731 A.D.\- The Persians make a final stand when General Balram Kodi's forces reach the remaining region of Azerbaijan. The Shah of Persia himself led his army. If he was going to die, then he would die fighting. In a show of respect for his country's foe, General Kodi showed the last sons of Persia no mercy and used aggressive strategies to defeat them. Even after General Kodi killed the Shah himself when he fired his pistols towards the Persian general and his bodyguards, the Persians fought to the last man and viciously killed a lot of Marathi soldiers before finally dying. While an expensive victory for the Marathas, they were still able to capture Azerbaijan, thus bringing an end to another glorious empire.

The fall of Persia sent shockwaves throughout the world, especially Europe. The Maratha Empire's victory over Persia meant that the Maratha Empire could no longer be just dismissed as a rebel group that would disintegrate in a few decades. The Marathas showed that they were here to stay, and would go through any lengths to maintain their sovereignty. Even if it meant executing those nobles seen as traitors to the Maratha interests. This finally made Portugal sue for a peace treaty with the Marathas which was readily accepted as the Maratha Empire would regularly send diplomats to the Portuguese court for ceasing of hostilities but would always be sent back with a refusal.

Empress Tarabai summoned diplomats from the Ottoman Empire and made her wish known that she did not wish for war between their people. This was done in response to an OMI report that a few Persian nobles that had escaped the Persian Empire were subtly trying to manipulate the Sultan and his inner circle into declaring war against the Maratha Empire. Empress Tarabai then showed a few "letters" intercepted by her men, that talked about growing enough of political clout to weaken the Ottomans and the Marathas, and then strike from within to re-establish the Persian Empire within the borders of the Ottomans or the Marathas. The diplomats profusely thanked the Empress for informing them about this and vowed to do everything within their power to not only prevent any kind of conflict between their nations, but to also further improve the relations between the two Empires.

Four weeks later, Empress Tarabai received a report that all the escaped Persian Nobles in the borders of the Ottoman Empire, and their families, were publicly executed for high treason, that included plotting to murder the Sultan, his family, and his inner circle. The Persians were finally finished.

1732 A.D.\- Now that the Marathas were no longer fighting any wars, except the still ongoing "Phony War" with the Dutch, Empress Tarabai managed to pass many new agricultural and economic reforms that aimed at improving the economic situation of the peasants and farmers.

Empress Tarabai's Naval Secretary reported that OMI operatives that were sent by him to Britain, Spain, France and the United Provinces (The Netherlands), managed to return with crucial plans of shipbuilding. According to him, these plans would be understood by the Maratha naval shipwrights, especially because of the betterment of naval technological theory in the Maratha Empire. Convinced, Empress Tarabai ordered the construction of a flagship that would be on the same level as a British or French naval flagship. The construction is carried out at the Calcutta Dockyard after the design is approved by the Maratha Grand Admiralty.

The Maratha Army placed an order for the newest versions of the Charleville and Potzdam Muskets to replace their aging muskets with payment being made in three to four installments. They were ordered from France and Prussia respectively. 5 weeks later, the Maratha Secretary of the Army, received a letter from both of these countries saying that his request has been approved from the highest levels of their nations and all the required units would be delivered to them by them within the next two years. The letters also stated that the first units of these muskets were expected to arrive in the Port of Bombay within at least six to eight months.

1733 A.D.\- The English East India Company, that had been expelled by the Mughals because of the war with the Marathas, arrive in the court of Empress Tarabai along with a British diplomatic mission. They request that the East India Company be allowed to trade in India. Empress Tarabai agrees but stipulates that the East India Company will have to follow the same rules as every other company that operates within her realm.

The rules included that, the East India Company would be forbidden to keep any kind of military power, land or naval. The East India Company would pay an annual 'Company Tax' of 8% (Indian companies were paying a company tax of 5%). Wherever the EIC chose to set up their factory, they would have to also pay a land tax of 5%. If the raw materials for the EIC's final products were available in India, then the EIC would not be allowed to import the same materials. All raw materials that were available exclusively in India, would be exported at the International Market price so that the Indian farmers would get their due remunerations. All books of accounts would be audited by Indian accounting companies approved by the Maratha Minister of Finance, and the EIC would have to answer to the Maratha government if they are found to be not paying their taxes or deliberately showing their income to be low. Finally, Indians would be given first priority as employees in the factories that would come up and would be treated fairly.

In return, Empress Tarabai and in extension, the Maratha Empire agreed to allow the high-level officers of the Company to have personal bodyguards, whose name and details would be known to the local Maratha military outpost. The East India Company could also send back all of its profits that remained after the payment of all taxes, back to England at a limit of 10% to safeguard the Maratha interests.

The East India Company found the terms to be outrageous and tried to subtly bribe the Empress by informing her that the EIC would personally deliver riches and items found only in Europe to the Empress and her court. Empress Tarabai simply replied, that when she gave the same conditions to the French East India Company back in 1707, just after peace was restored between the Marathas and the French, the French East India Company were more than delighted to accept her conditions and were now making a lot of profits. The British East India Company agreed to these terms very reluctantly, as back in London, they didn't want to be seen as being a reason for the British losing face to the French.

Empress Tarabai penned a letter to the Director-General of the OMI, ordering him to make sure there is constant surveillance on every foreigner working for the British East India Company. To make sure they don't pull any stunts. Empress Tarabai had also ordered the same thing to be done with officers of the French East India Company back in 1708, when they had opened their factory in Cuttack, Orrisa.

The first batch of Charleville and Potzdam Muskets arrived in India from France and Prussia respectively. These rifles came with men from both of these countries who would train Maratha drill instructors on how to use them. This training was expected to continue for 4 weeks.

1734 A.D.\- A meeting of all the Generals in the Empire, including Balkrishna Indukiri, who had returned after securing the Maratha colonies in the Americas with well-trained men, and a fleet of Fifth and Fourth-rate ships, concluded that General Indukiri and General Balram Kodi's training to their troops, while harsh, was very effective in producing disciplined and well-trained troops. This concurred with a few reports of French and other European officers, who had retired from active service in their home countries and were hired to train the Maratha troops, that the training the troops received under Indukiri and Kodi produced troops who had the same level of disciplined mindsets as their European contemporaries. This saw the training of both of these men (which was very similar) be introduced in all of the current armies and in the training of the new soldiers and officers in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Academy of Military Arts.

The meeting also sees the reorganization of the enlisted and officer ranks of the Maratha Army and Navy that is more in line with the Europeans. Following this reshuffle, General Rustam Akurdikar is now named the new Field Marshal of the Imperial Maratha Army. However, the rank would still informally called as _Sardar Senapati_ but without it holding the connotations as 'Commander-in-Chief'. This rank was now bestowed upon the Monarch, in this case, the Empress. Balkrishna Indukiri is named as General and Chief of Army Staff. The remaining generals are now ranked as Lieutenant-Generals, but are allowed to keep their armies and are seen as equal to General Balkrishna Indukiri. This type of organization would only be for the current cadre of highest ranked officers. The Imperial Maratha Navy is organized into similar lines.

1735 A.D.\- The first corps of the newly introduced Maratha Light Infantry are raised. They are the first corps to be issued the Prussian made Potzdam muskets. They were stationed in Satara until further orders.

Outbreak of the Russo-Turkish war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Conclusion of the War of the Polish Succession

* * *

The date where the Saderans attack (Option 1)- 25th August 1735, a mysterious gate opens outside the walls of Satara and the capital city of the Maratha Empire once again comes under siege for the first time in 26 years by an army that easily numbered around 10, 000 soldiers. The guards posted on the walls note that the army is unlike anything they had ever seen and didn't carry any of the modern technologies of the Europeans. It is also noted that none of the invaders had anything resembling a firearm and were using bow and arrows and ballistae as missile and artillery weapons respectively. However, the strangest thing they noticed was that there were many strange creatures that didn't look human.

Empress Tarabai ordered the gates of the Shaniwar Wada, the royal palace to be opened and allow the civilians to be evacuated in. The only General that could be called was none other than Balkrishna Indukiri, a man who had become a legend amongst the Europeans and was feared as the "Saffron Scourge". He had taken his troops on a training exercise 120 KMs away from Satara and was informed about the battle by a villager who had managed to see everything. Immediately, General Indukiri marched his men and reached within 36 hours.

General Indukiri lived up to his title of the "Saffron Scourge" by slaughtering the invaders, especially the beings that did not look human in any shape or form. His cannons and mortars tore into the enemy formations and the newly raised Maratha Light Infantry got its first taste of battle. Along with their fellow and more experienced infantry corps, the Bargir Light Infantry, Sikh Musketeers, Sikh Light Infantry and Hindu Musketeers, all line infantry fired a continuous barrage of musket balls from their Potzdam and Charleville muskets. The invaders who had raised their shields were still killed, as the musket balls shredded through their shields. The Pindari Horsemen also fired continuously from their own muskets. Once the invaders were disoriented, they put away their muskets and charged at the invaders with their lances while giving a ferocious war cry. General Indukiri's elephants had also charged in the fray, as the mighty beasts easily crushed the invaders without any mercy. The sheer size of the elephants and their shrill trumpets terrified the invaders who tried to run, only to once again come under heavy fire by the line infantry.

Once the battle was over, the Maratha forces managed to capture 4500 soldiers (humans and otherwise) of the invading army and the remaining 5500 men were killed in the battle. It didn't take long for the Maratha Empire to learn about the origins of the new and mysterious enemy and soon Empress Tarabai ordered a mobilization of the Maratha army under the leadership of General Rustam Akurdikar and General Balkrishna Indukiri serving as his second-in-command, a position which suited General Indukiri as he didn't want to be bogged down by the politics, and found his superior and friend, Akurdikar better suited in fielding questions from the nobles in the Empress' court.

28th September 1735, the full might of the Maratha Empire's army went to the other side of the gate, to not only combat the invaders but also to expand the influences of the Maratha Empire in a new world…

* * *

1736 A.D.\- A Maratha trading ship carrying items and gold from the Ottoman Empire is attacked and captured by pirates. The Marathas don't hear about it until after three months.

Maratha navy ships are dispatched to find it, return with no results. In reply, the Maratha navy spurs the building up of fifth to third-rate ships to patrol the Indian Ocean. To provide more security for the trading ships, the Marathas start the process of building up naval forts on the small islands of the Western Indian Ocean after proclaiming them as part of the Martha territories. These forts are complemented by networks of small squadrons of naval vessels, private and of the Imperial Maratha Navy.

1737 A.D\- Diplomats from the Maratha Empire make their way to the Kingdoms of what is considered as North-East India to establish diplomacy, trade and peaceful relations. The diplomats are warmly received and return a few months later with positive results.

1738 A.D.-1739 A.D. Sporadic skirmishes between the Dutch and the Maratha Navies in the Indian Ocean and the East Indies leads to the Netherlands and the Maratha Empire set up naval forts and start a program of aggressive colonization of the interior of the East Indies to outdo one another. To prevent a war from aggressively breaking out and harming their trade prospects, France and Great Britain, in a rare moment, negotiate between the Marathas and the Dutch. In the end of the negotiations, the Marathas and the Dutch agree to not hold anymore conflicts on the Malacca and Sunda Straits. Also, the territories are divided equally amongst the Dutch and the Maratha Empire and both nations keep their forts to combat piracy in the region, especially the Pirates in from the South China Sea. The Treaty of Jakarta ends the phony war between the Dutch and the Marathas, and relations start healing slowly.

In 1739, the Russo-Turkish War comes to an end.

1740 A.D.\- Outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession. After receiving the news of this war six months later, Empress Tarabai sees this as an opportunity to gain more influence in the region and her military commanders quickly identify the Spanish holdings in the East Indies as the best place to invade and steal land from the Europeans. However, the Maratha Empire also take their colonial holdings into account, knowing that just foolishly declaring war without safeguarding their overseas territories would just make it an opportune moment for Spain to strike back, the Maratha Empire forms six Imperial Navy Infantry Regiments under the Maratha Navy. Three of them are sent to secure their holdings in Colonial America and Admiral Girish Saini and General Balkrishna Indukiri are given free reign in the defense of their existing colonies and subsequent counter-attack of the Spanish Colonies. At the same time, the remaining three regiments are sent to the Maratha holdings in Borneo, to prepare for a naval invasion. Both naval infantry expeditions are sent with large fleets ranging from fifth-third rates and a few second-rate ships of the line as well. All troops are also complemented with OMI agents to establish an intelligence network.

Seeing that war would be imminent, the first flagship of the Maratha Navy hastens it's construction and is soon launched. It's christened as _IMS Shivaji_ in honor of the legendary founder of the Confederacy. A man so exalted and respected within the Indian subcontinent, that even Emperor Aurangzeb, the last great Emperor of the Mughal Empire, who saw the infant confederacy as nothing but rabble and rebellious barbarians had considered Shivaji to be his equal in combat and administration and thus, a threat. One to be eliminated at all costs. After the ship finished it's sea trials, the Shivaji is dispatched after the Americans Fleet to South America along with a small flotilla of second and third rate ships. Seeing the success of the ship, a second flagship is also ordered to be constructed at Calcutta Dockyard. Having built the first flagship and holding extensive knowledge of the design and construction, Calcutta Dockyard manages to construct the next flagship in a year, before it is sent to the East Indies to provide support. The _IMS Ashoka_ was named in honor of Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Dynasty, the dynasty that united India for the first time after the Battle of Kalinga in 261 BCE.

With Navy ships away, Privateering contracts are given by the Maratha Empire to ship owners for patrolling the region, all the way up to the North of Madagascar. Many captains sign up and become Privateers serving under the Maratha crown and start harassing Spanish and French shipping.

Meanwhile, Empress Tarabai sends a missive to King George II of Great Britain and Ireland and Maria Theresa of the Hapsburg Monarchy, expressing support for their alliance's cause and extending an offer of military alliance in Asia. In return, Empress Tarabai requested support from the Royal Navy to combat the Spanish in the Americas and the West Indies. In return, Empress Tarabai promises that, if won, the Maratha Empire would be willing to divide the captured holdings between themselves. _In return_, the British, the Dutch and the other members of the alliance would have to accept the hegemony of the Maratha Empire on the Philippine Islands and other holdings of the Spanish East Indies. Maria Theresa and King George II reply that they would accept the Maratha Empire into the alliance and recognize the Maratha Empire's demands. King George additionally requests that the Royal Navy be allowed to police the Indian waters with the Imperial Maratha Navy and dock at Maratha ports for resupply, along with a guarantee that the British would not meddle in the Marathas internal affairs.

Four more regiments of the Imperial Naval Infantry are raised and kept at standby.

1741 A.D.\- July. The Maratha Empire officially declare war on the Spanish Empire. In the West Indies, decisive action and the Spanish's complete lack of preparation to deal with combined Marathi and British forces see their positions overrun. The Marathas also see favorable action in the East Indies Theatre, with Manilla being overrun very quickly and the Spanish garrison surrenders to the Maratha Empire by September. The Spanish troops are taken as prisoners of war, and the Spanish Governor is transported back to Satara, where he is put under house arrest as a PoW but under generous accommodations. The locals are against this takeover and come out on the streets to protest, the Maratha forces reply with brutally crushing the civilians and causing many deaths. When Spain hears about it, they are outraged.

1742 A.D.\- The Maratha forces draw plans to invade Taiwan before the Qing Empire could claim it back. Six months later, when Qing naval vessels make their way to reclaim Taiwan, they are soon intercepted by the Maratha Navy but are invited to discuss the situation with the current military governor who happened to be in Taiwan. The Qing Admiral soon learns that they were three months late in trying to recapture Taiwan and are soon escorted back to Chinese waters by the Maratha Navy.

1745 A.D.\- One Hundred years since Shivaji Bhosle led an armed protest against the Sultan of Bijapur in 1645 A.D., starting what would later become the Maratha Confederacy.

1743-1748 A.D.\- The war continues and the Maratha only see any more action in defending their captured territories from Spanish raids. Reports do emerge about how the British and the Maratha forces in their respective territories brutally suppressed the Spanish population.

18 October 1748: Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle is signed.

Terms included:

(1) Austria recognises the Prussian acquisition of Silesia and cedes the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla to Phillip of Spain (1720–1765), eldest son of Phillip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese;

(2) France withdraws from the Austrian Netherlands and returns the Dutch Barrier Forts, Maastricht and Bergen op Zoom;

(3) Britain returns the French possession of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia for war indemnities paid by the French;

(4) Austria withdraws from the Duchy of Modena and Republic of Genoa;

(5) Renewal of the Asiento slavery contract, granted to Britain by Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; Britain renounced this under the 1750 Treaty of Madrid, in return for £10,000;

(6) The Maratha Empire returns the majority of its holdings captured by its forces in the war in return for having Spain recognize the Maratha's territories in America and ceding a few of its islands near South America and the entirety of their holdings in the East Indies. The Maratha Empire transports the former governor of the Philippines back to Spain, along with its soldiers held as Prisoners of War. The Maratha Empire pays 70,000 Reales as compensation for the suppression and the civilian deaths during the occupation;

(7) A commission is established to resolve competing claims between French and British colonists in North America.

The Marathas' relations with the French take a serious hit after the Marathas entered the war on the side of Britain. This saw trade between the two nations being suspended and the French demanding reparations for the resumption of trade. The Maratha Empire refuses it on the grounds that they never harmed French military personnel nor did they arrest any officer of the French East India Company and instead made sure that they would not get into blows with the British East India Company. While not at all satisfied by this line of reasoning, France doesn't pursue the matter further because they are already weary of the war and soon recognize the Maratha's claims in the East Indies and trade between the two nations slowly picks up again.

While the loss of 60% of the occupied territories in the West Indies did hurt the Maratha Empire in the short term, they bounced back once the Maratha managed to use Taiwan as a base of operations to start a very profitable trading enterprise with the Qing Empire. The first Indian Joint-Stock Company is founded by the name of the Indian East Asia Company, with its headquarters being located at Calcutta and traded from the Ottoman Empire to the Qing along with a hopeful trade treaty being established with the Oda Shogunate of Japan. This presence alarms the English, French and Dutch East India Companies who were managing to actually get away with bloating up prices and enjoy reaping huge profits. Sabotage attempts fail as the factories are under heavy protection.

1750 A.D.\- 50 years since the crowning of Empress Tarabai and her 75th Birth Anniversary. Empress Tarabai announces in the Maratha Court, that because of her advanced age, she would task her 53-year-old son, Crown Prince Raghunath to handle the day to day running of the Empire while she still remains to take the major decisions in the running of the Empire.

A review of the military is jointly submitted by the Imperial Army and Navy to the Ministry of Defense which details the need for proper organization of Armies and Fleets into theatre commands. After hearing the pros and cons, the Ministry of Defense submits the proposals to Empress Tarabai for her final decision. After long deliberation, Empress Tarabai approves the creation of Theatre commands.

For the administration of the Maratha holdings in the East Indies, the city of Manilla is declared to be the capital, and a viceroy is sent. It is none other than the Empress' step-son, Rajaram Bhosle who is sent to Manilla to serve as the first Viceroy of the Maratha East Indies at the age of 52. Along with the viceroy, the ships already present in the East Indies are constituted under the new Imperial East Indies Naval Command that is under the command of a Vice-Admiral appointed by the Admiralty. Their jurisdiction extends from Taiwan to the recently discovered Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where the Imperial Maratha Navy begins to set up naval forts and buses. Similarly, the Naval Infantry Regiments that are garrisoned in the region come under the command of the Navy.

1752 A.D.\- Benjamin Franklin conducts the kite experiment to show that lightning and electricity are the same.

1753 A.D.\- The Maratha Empire manages to secure a trade agreement with the Merina Kingdom of Madagascar and the right to dock naval ships as well.

1756 A.D.\- Outbreak of the Seven Years War. The Maratha Empire declares neutrality but increases its military presence in the Americas.

1759 A.D.\- Empress Tarabai, the widow of Chhatrapati Rajaram Bhosle, the ruler that turned her country into an international superpower on the same standing with the British, French, Spanish, etc., slayer of the Mughals and the Persians and highly respected (and to some extent, feared) by the Europeans, peacefully passes away in her sleep on the intervening night of 4th and 5th April.

When the palace officially announces the news on the morning of the 6th, it quickly spreads like wildfire across the Empire. By the end of the month, even the Marathi East Indies and Americas hear about it. The new Chhatrapati, Empress Tarabai's son, Raghunath Bhosle, declares a month of public mourning.

Soon, letters expressing their condolences arrive from Sultan Mustafa III of the Ottoman Empire, one of the Maratha Empire's first friends, King George II of Great Britain and Ireland, the Maratha's allies in the War of Austrian Succession, Maria Theresa of the Hapsburg Dominions and other friendly nations. Surprisingly, however, similar letters of condolences arrive from King Louis XV of France and King Joseph I of Portugal. Other letters that were more akin to formalities arrive from Empress Elizabeth of Russia, and the government of the Dutch Republic. The legacy of Empress Tarabai was placed on the same pedestal as the founder of the erstwhile Confederacy, Chhatrapati Shivaji, and Empress Tarabai's name was immortalized as 'Mother Tarabai'.

Spain is the only country of significance that did not send any kind of missive. At first, it was not so strange considering the grievances Spain had against the Marathas. However, this, along with the ongoing Seven Years War, sent alarm bells ringing in the Maratha court. Taking action, Chhatrapati Raghunath Bhosle orders the viceroy of the Maratha colonies in America to remain in high alert and dispatches more troops. The Emperor also orders the same for the Maratha East Indies. These additional preparations deter the Spanish from trying to reclaim their old colonies now under Maratha administration, and instead just focus on Britain.

1760-1761 A.D.\- Two of the most legendary generals who served under Empress Tarabai and played crucial roles in making the Maratha Empire a terrifying force to be feared, Field Marshal Rustam Akurdikar and General Balkrishna Indukuri peacefully pass away in consecutive years. Both of them spend their final moments with not only their families, but also in the presence of Chhatrapati Raghunath who had decided to stay with these legendary men to assure them that the Empire would not only endure, but also survive and prosper, and he would never allow theirs and his mother's hard work to all go to waste.

The funeral of Field Marshal Indukuri saw all the heads of the Afghan Tribes in attendance, mainly because of the respect they had for the late Field Marshal. Chhatrapati Raghunath graciously accepted the heads and held an audience with them in the throne room with all court nobles attending. Once again, they reaffirmed the oath of loyalty to the Maratha Crown and offered their swords in service to the Maratha Empire.

Chhatrapati Raghunath accepted the oath and assured the tribal heads that the Maratha crown sees all the Afghan tribes as friends and would be delighted to have them continue serving the Maratha. For the present period, Chhatrapati Raghunath told them to continue living their lives uninterrupted but to also patrol the Maratha Empire's border with the Russian Empire along with the Maratha Army to make sure nothing untoward happens in the region. One of the nobles suggests that the tribes have a rotation system on who would patrol which area. The Emperor agreed and when asked, the tribes agreed as well, as it would mean that they could continue their usual way of life, but now they only had to patrol the border regions.

It was said that when news of the passing of Balkrishna Indukuri reached the ears of the British commanders who fought in the War of the Austrian Succession with the Marathas, many of them personally held a few moments of silence in respect. Especially because during the war, General Indukuri had gained their respect and had considered him as a valued ally. After the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, and the seas being safe, a delegation of British statesmen many being MPs in the House of Lords and the House of Commons and fought alongside Maratha forces made their way to Satara, where they requested an audience with the Emperor. When they were granted the audience, the delegation expressed their condolences for the death of the great General and the late Empress, but also recounted many stories of General Indukuri's courage and his thoughts and poems that stuck with them.

Both meetings the Emperor had were frozen in time by a series of paintings by the various court painters. Out of these paintings, four were sent to King George III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to be placed in the Royal Gallery.

After the death of Field Marshal Rustam Akurdikar, the rank was turned into a ceremonial one. It would be only given if and when a General showed exceptional bravery during wartime. As for the post of General and Chief of Army Staff, this post was given to a relatively young Lieutenant-General Tatya Tope, who was exceptional in the administration of the army and was responsible for ensuring that the Imperial Maratha Army from the East Indies to Persia would always be ready and prepared to fight.

Seeing that the Maratha Empire was not fighting any wars (for now). Chhatrapati Raghunath found himself in a dilemma. What to do with the money that was overflowing the Empire's treasury? The money was coming from everywhere. Even though the Seven Years' War was still in effect, trading ships of the Maratha Empire in the Atlantic Ocean was the only ones not being harassed by British or French Privateers, mainly because Britain and France both saw Maratha neutrality as a balancing act and wished to keep it the same way by having favorable trade with the Maratha Empire. Even the Warhawks in Spain had decided to lay off the Marathas in fear of getting another bloody nose and global humiliation. This along with the very favorable trade relations in the Middle East with the Ottoman Empire and the Far East with the Oda-led Shogunate of Japan, the Qing Empire of China and the Joseon Dynasty of Korea saw nothing but money flowing in and the Maratha Economy being in the green. Being an avid admirer of the sciences, technology, and literature, Chhatrapati Raghunath decided to invest in what he saw as the key to Maratha's future, and a vital part of mankind's responsibility as a species: the promotion of learning within the empire.

In the years following, Chhatrapati Raghunath poured an immense amount of spending into various academic institutions. Among the first beneficiaries of the new policies was the Imperial Society of Academics and Science, an organisation that aimed to unite the Empire's greatest minds in the collaborative pursuit of excellence. Before this point, the society had relied on the contributions of donors and as such had struggled to get by. Now they flourished under their new funding, and scientists from all over the empire were attracted to the society's resources. More than once, foreign scientists, writers, and philosophers were also invited to give lectures, provide demonstrations, share ideas and debate over questions that still did not have an answer.

With the immense wealth of Maratha the Empire, and then the world saw a large boost in all sectors. Those who saw Raghunath's spending as frivolous were swayed when leaps in medical understanding led to significantly better treatment for wounded soldiers, reducing the number of casualties suffered year by year. Before long the returns made by increasing the empire's production and efficiency had surpassed the initial investment, and the continued expenditure on institutions such as universities and academies saw a lasting boom in the sciences that would propel not only the Empire but the world for centuries to come.

Twice, American Polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America before it's transition into a monarchy, Benjamin Franklin was also invited by Chhatrapati Raghunath to give lectures in the Imperial Society where he was also honored with a fellowship. Benjamin Franklin would serve as the United States Minister to India from 1786-1789 before returning home. He would pass away in 1792 at the age of 86.

1764 A.D.\- The Seven Years War ends with no clear winner. France and Britain come to an agreement on colonial borders in North America. Labrador and Rupert's Land to France, Michigan, and Ohio to Britain.

Chhatrapati Raghunath recalls his step-brother, Rajaram, from the Philippines and awards him with titles and an estate in their family's ancestral seat in Kolhapur. Rajaram's position as Viceroy of the Maratha East Indies is taken over by another statesman of the Maratha Court. Rajaram passes away five years later due to typhoid.

1774 A.D.\- One hundred years since the coronation of Shivaji as Chhatrapati of the Maratha Confederacy.

1775 A.D.\- Outbreak of the American Revolution. Merchants and landowners are angered at the implementation of more effective taxes to replace the widely ignored tariffs.

1779 A.D._\- _Chhatrapati Raghunath Bhosle passes away after ruling for over two decades. His rule is characterized by the heavy investment in science and technology, both military, civil, arts and philosophy, which saw the Maratha Empire gain a lot of prestige worldwide.

His son, Crown Prince Digvijay is crowned as the new Chhatrapati. Chhatrapati Digvijay seeks to place his own mark on his nations' history by expanding on his father's legacy and also by improving the education and justice system of the Maratha Empire.

1781 A.D.\- American independence recognized by Britain.

The Maratha Empire recognizes the existence of the United States of America and soon send an ambassador to Philadelphia.

1786 A.D.\- A trivial demand from veterans and soldiers over unpaid wages escalates into political demands when Jacobins (as they are later known) arrive from France. The Shaysites initially dominate the American countryside but are steadily rooted out.

Benjamin Franklin is appointed as the United States Minister to India by the Continental Congress. He presents his credentials to Chhatrapati Digvijay, which is accepted. The U.S. Minister and his family are soon escorted to the diplomatic complex of Satara where he is allocated a large apartment that also serves as his office with the British, French and Russian Ambassadors as neighbors (AN: Not in the traditional sense).

1789 A.D.\- Outbreak of the French Revolution. The French King, Louis XVI, widely hated as an out-of-touch tyrant, accepts demands from the moderate liberals and cedes some power to the legislative body, the National Assembly, creating a constitutional monarchy on British lines. The other monarchies of Europe are horrified at this threat to their legitimacy and begin amassing troops. The Maratha Empire is also concerned about the events in France.

Benjamin Franklin completes his tenure as U.S. Minister to India and returns back to the United States of America.

1790 A.D.\- Belgians attempt to throw off Austrian rule but are quickly suppressed.

1791 A.D.\- The sans-culottes slaughter the French-Swiss Guard to the last man at the Tuileries Palace. Their sacrifice allows the King to flee to Louisiana.

Creation of the French Republic.

Start of the Revolutionary Terror under Jacobin leader Robespierre.

Austrian and Prussian armies begin invading France but are repulsed by nationalistic fervor. Europe will be gripped by war for the next 30 years.

When informed about Robespierre's actions and fearing that the Jacobin movement could already be in the Maratha EMpire's borders, Chhatrapati Digvijay passes an imperial decree that firstly, condemns Robespierre's actions and secondly, bans the movement in the borders of the Maratha Empire and all of its colonies. Relations between the French Republic and the Maratha Empire reach an all-time low, because of which, trade relations between the two countries and their economies are affected.

1792 A.D.\- Benjamin Franklin passes away at the age of 86 in Philadelphia.

1793 A.D.\- Defeated in battle by General George Washington, the American Jacobins lay down arms and the leaders are executed.

The Constitutional Convention agrees on the creation of a constitutional monarchy under King George I Washington to preserve stability amongst the several states. Widely considered to be the end of the American Revolution.

The Maratha Empire recognizes the existence of the Kingdom of America and soon sign a trade agreement with them.

1794 A.D.\- The Thermidorian Reaction brings an end to the French Terror.

The sans-culottes are dispersed by the National Guard.

A five-man Directory assumes executive power.

1796 A.D.\- The War in the Vendée. Monarchist rebels in Brittany are quickly suppressed and a brutal campaign against the Breton minority is waged.

1797 A.D.\- French general Napoléon Bonaparte conquers Austrian Italy.

1798 A.D.\- Outbreak of the Irish Revolution.

The Fenian Brotherhood, with aid from French and American Jacobins, manages to throw off British rule and create the Irish Republic.

Napoléon Bonaparte leads the French forces to a number of victories in Ireland, although the Directory debated sending him to Egypt instead.

1799 A.D.\- Napoléon Bonaparte returns to France.

A French military coup removes the Directory and replaces it with a three-man Consulate, with Napoléon Bonaparte amongst their number.

A brief constitutional crisis grips America as King George I Washington dies without issue. The crown passes peacefully to Alexander Hamilton I.

1800 A.D.\- French armies inflict decisive defeats upon the British, Austrian and Prussian armies. Napoléon Bonaparte wins much of the credit.

1801 A.D.\- Europe comes to the negotiating table in the brief Peace of Amiens. Britain and Louisiana recognise the French Republic. France recognises the Kingdom of Louisiana.

1802 A.D.\- Britain declares war on France for intervening in Swiss politics.

1803 A.D.\- British armies land in Ireland but are beaten back. Abuses by Wellington's troops cause Irish Protestants and Catholics to unite more firmly.

1804 A.D.\- Napoléon Bonaparte is crowned Emperor of France.

In response, the Austrian Empire is declared by Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire, creating a formal state out of the disparate Habsburg realms held in union.

Relations slowly improve between the French Empire under Napoleon and the Maratha Empire. Trade between the two countries is resumed, but the Maratha Empire makes it's stance very clear that it will not interfere in European politics.

1805 A.D.\- Monarchists in the Netherlands, with British aid, overthrow the Batavian Republic. Emperor Napoléon invades and places his brother Louis on the throne as King of Holland.

1806 A.D.\- Emperor Napoléon conquers much of Germany and creates the Kingdom of Westphalia as a constitutional monarchy under his youngest brother, Jérôme-Napoléon. The ancient Holy Roman Empire is dissolved.

1807 A.D.\- Emperor Napoléon conquers Prussia and Poland, creating the Duchy of Warsaw under Frederick Augustus I of Saxony, later elevated to King of Poland in 1813. Liberal reformers in Parliament ban the transportation of slaves on British ships.

1808 A.D.\- Emperor Napoléon invades Spain to place his elder brother Joseph-Napoléon on the throne. The Spanish King quickly flees to Britain and the fight is taken up by the Spanish populace. The word 'guerilla' is coined to describe this brutal asymmetric warfare.

The Spanish colonies use the opportunity to declare independence.

The Maratha Empire sees this as an opportunity to gain more land and the forces in it's Central and South American Colonies attack and capture many former Spanish Colonies.

The Maratha Empire don't try mounting an attack on Cuba or Mexico, mainly because of the heavy presence of Spanish and Mexican troops that would make it almost impossible for it to be invaded.

However, the Maratha Empire do manage to take a good chunk of Spain's former colonies in South America.

Fighting overseas in the other regions and guerrilla movements in the area last almost two decades. However, this only serves to train the Marathi troops harder and make them more dangerous in the region.

When the Spanish Ambassador-in-exile asks for an explanation, Chhatrapati Digvijay simply replies by saying that those colonies became independent nations when the government of Spain fell, thus making them fair game to be invaded. The same answer is given to the British and French Ambassadors.

1809 A.D.\- Portugal receives British help and is able to resist the French armies at the Lines of Torres Vedras. Nevertheless, the Portuguese King flees to Brazil to avoid capture.

1810 A.D.\- French diplomatic maneuvering results in Russia switching sides and she begins an attack on Sweden with French acquiescence. The Grand Duchy of Finland is created from the conquests.

1811 A.D.\- Russia conquers Bessarabia from the Ottoman Empire.

1812 A.D.\- Russia and the Austrian and Prussian rump kingdoms switch back to the British faction.

1813 A.D.\- Emperor Napoléon defeats the Prussians, annexing the remnants of that kingdom into Westphalia and Poland.

1814 A.D.\- Emperor Napoléon invades Russia, capturing Moscow and creating the Duchies of Livonia, White Ruthenia, and Zaporozhye. The Russian Tsar agrees to peace. The Austrian Emperor retakes Tyrol but is defeated in Bavaria.

1815 A.D.\- Austria cedes Croatia to France in exchange for peace. Emperor Napoléon invades the Ottoman Empire via Zaporozhye, but the British Royal Navy prevents a crossing of the Bosphorus.

1816 A.D.\- The Peterloo Massacre marks the beginning of the widespread Jacobin insurrection in Britain.

Fenian involvement is suspected and race laws are passed by Parliament to suppress the movement of Irishmen.

France agrees to a separate peace with Spain, with the puppet monarchy capitulating to the Bourbon dynasty. Britain stands almost alone and internal pressure for peace mounts.

1817 A.D.\- Bread riots in Paris and other urban areas threaten to topple the Empire, but the rebels are defeated.

The economy of France has been shattered by the British blockade and by the demands of conscription.

The Maratha Empire play a peacemaker and convince Emperor Napoléon to agree to peace with Britain.

Gibraltar is returned to Britain, Corsica, and Sardinia to France. Luxembourg is restored as a Grand Duchy under a French puppet.

The Maratha Empire keeps all of it's newly conquered territories giving them access to the Southern Pacific Ocean. Settlers soon arrive via the Philippines to form another colony of the Maratha Empire.

Spanish citizens are given a choice to stay or leave with no strings attached. Many choose to go to Cuba, from where they go back to Spain. However, there are many Spanish citizens who stay back, and the Maratha Empire assures them that they will have the same rights as their own citizens.

The Ottoman Empire has great difficulty retaking her European territory from local nationalists who fill the void left by the French occupiers.

1819 A.D.\- The French generals appointed as Dukes of Livonia, White Ruthenia, Zaporozhye, and Croatia are overthrown by local monarchists.

France, still war-weary and suffering internal power struggles, let them slip away to preserve peace.

1822 A.D.\- Brazil declares independence from Portugal. The fighting lasts almost two years before independence is recognized.

1824 A.D.\- Chhatrapati Digvijay's biggest crisis at home took the form of the invasion of the Kingdoms of North-East India, two of which were declared as protectorates of the Maratha Empire, by the Burmese Empire ruled by the Konbaung Dynasty.

The cassus belli was in 1823 when Burma occupied Shalpuri Island near Chittagong, which was claimed by the Maratha Empire.

First clashes between Marathi troops and Burmese troops occurred in Cachar in January.

Outbreak of the First Marathi-Burmese War happens in March.

Battle of Yangon (May-December). Combined forces of the Imperial Maratha Army, Imperial Maratha Navy and Imperial Maratha Naval-Infantry numbering up to 13,500 men (6000 Army, 6000 Naval Infantry and 1500 sailors) capture Yangon in May by virtually not fighting any battle for it.

In November, General Maha Bandula surrounds Yangon with a force of 30,000 troops. However, by that time, the Marathi Expedition Forces already secure the city with mortars and cannons firing exploding shells and the researched and tested under battlefield conditions rocket artillery whose range could even match the British made Congreve Rockets. In the end, it was nothing but the Marathi troops routing the Burmese troops because of better training and superior technology of weapons.

1825 A.D.: The last large scale Spanish invasion of her former colonies meets disaster in Mexico as General Santa Anna repulses the attackers.

Similarly, the Imperial Marathi Navy stationed in the Americas completely decimates the Spanish Armada that is sent and begins a blockade of Cuba, thus cutting off supplies and dooming the Spanish troops in the Maratha territory to suffer from attrition, desertion, defection, and deaths.

The remaining Spanish troops are mercilessly slaughtered and their heads are sent on pikes to the Spanish Governor in Cuba as a final warning to what will happen if they try attacking the Maratha Empire again. This small scale war even sees local former Spanish men fighting under the Maratha banner.

Battle of Danyubu, part of the Marathi-Burmese War.

Arakan Campaign. Expulsion of the Burmese Army from Assam.

Battle of Prome. White flag waved by the Burmese Army in December.

Commencement of negotiations.

1826 A.D.\- End of the First Marathi-Burmese War by signing of the Treaty of Yandabo (This treaty has similar terms as the one signed between the English East India Company and Burma in OTL). But also…

The Burmese Empire is forced to become a vassal of the Maratha Empire and are forced to pay annual tributes. The Maratha Empire also takes over their foreign relations and a permanent ambassador is placed in the Burmese court as an 'advisor' to the Monarch.

1828 A.D.\- A Greek rebellion in the Ottoman Empire receives French, British and Russian support. Greek independence is recognised, Russia takes parts of the Caucasus. The Ottoman leadership is alarmed at their sudden diplomatic isolation and incompetent military.

The Ottomans now look at re-evaluating all of their ties.

1829 A.D.\- Chhatrapati Digvijay passes away. His rule was marked with a significant increase in the territory of the Maratha Empire. However, Chhatrapati Digvijay's original goal of reforming the justice system of the Empire remains incomplete. This is taken over by his eldest daughter, Tarabai II, who succeeds him on the throne as Empress.

1830 A.D.\- The British Jacobins coalesce into the Chartist movement, demanding universal suffrage, the abolition of the monarchy and an end to the Corn Laws and Combination Acts. Dragoon regiments perform regular sweeps of the English countryside to destroy pockets of Chartist rebels.

1832 A.D.\- Emperor Napoléon dies peacefully in his sleep. He is succeeded by his nephew Louis-Napoléon.

1833 A.D.\- Britain bans slavery in her colonies.

Investment into researching naval technology brings about the first steamship of the Maratha Empire being launched at Calcutta called the _IMS Tarabai_. Five more were soon ordered by the Admiralty.

1835 A.D.\- The last of the royalist outposts in Spanish America fall to the Maratha troops. The government of Spain begins to recognise the new status of its former colonies.

1839 A.D.\- Tanzimat reforms to modernise the Ottoman Empire result in great instability as the privileges of local nobles are revoked to increase the power of the central government. Nationalists become more active.

1840 A.D.\- To deal with the trade imbalance that had started to show, the Indian East Asia Company had started growing opium in Bengal and selling it to smugglers in exchange for silver, in China, which was then used to buy Chinese tea leaves and other luxurious items such as silk and porcelain to sell it to Marathi nobles and foreign traders, especially the British through the English East India Company. This was done by merchants to prevent using their own money in buying tea leaves and many different types of luxury Chinese products, which had become even more expensive as the Qing Empire saw these products as a weapon to control negotiations. Opium was not illegal to grow in the Maratha Empire, but it's sale was regulated on the open market and highly taxed to discourage people from buying it. Furthermore, to make sure it had it's proper export quality, strict quality controls were enforced, which in turn got more money for the smugglers and the Indian East Asia Company.

Soon, having had enough of the illegal activities of the Indian East Asia Company, the Qing authorities confiscated Marathi opium, drawing condemnation from the merchants. This signals the beginning of the Opium War.

A task force of the Imperial Maratha Navy fight a series of naval battles against the Chinese Navy all across the Chinese coastline and manage to defeat the Chinese with technologically superior ships such as the _IMS Tarabai_ and her sister ships.

1841 A.D.\- Mexico explodes into civil war. Liberals, Conservatives, military strongmen and various separatist movements fight one another over land reform, religious power and cultural oppression.

1842 A.D.\- American republican emigrants in Texas declare independence but receive no support from neighbouring Louisiana and are soundly defeated by General Santa Anna.

The end of the conflicts which would go on to be called the Opium War, would see the opening of five treaty ports, and Hong Kong Island ceded to the Maratha Empire which allows European trading companies to avail the services, but for a price.

1846 A.D.\- The Caste War begins in the Yucatan peninsular. The Yucateco separatists appeal to the Mexican central government for aid, but none is forthcoming and the ethnoreligious state of Chan Santa Cruz is established by the Mayan rebels.

1847 A.D.\- Adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement flee the persecution they receive in America and begin the long trek that takes them to Salt Lake City, Ute.

1848 A.D.\- Chiapas, Guatemala and British Honduras fall to the Mayan state. Chan Santa Cruz is recognised by Britain in exchange for exclusive henequen trading rights. France joins Britain in banning slavery in her colonies.

1849 A.D.\- Mexico is bankrupted by the civil war and defaults on her debt. Chief amongst her debtors are French banks.

1850 A.D.\- Emperor Louis-Napoléon intervenes in the Mexican crisis. General Santa Anna is raised to Emperor of Mexico by the French forces in exchange for resumption of interest payments to French banks.

1851 A.D., May Day\- A strike by French textile workers is put down with force, leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured. May 1st becomes a day of commemoration across the world for the growing trades unionist movement.

1852 A.D.\- A large Serbian revolt is put down by the Ottoman Empire.

Failure of the payment of tribute, the expulsion of the Maratha ambassador, firing on Maratha troops, riots that saw many Maratha citizens killed in Yangon and the declaration of independence by Burma sees the outbreak of the Second Marathi-Burmese war.

In eight months, following a series of skirmishes, Maratha troops crush the Burmese rebellion and annex the entirety of Burma.

Following reports of war crimes being conducted by the soldiers, especially on Burmese civilians, the Empress orders the Defense Minister to lead an inquiry into the matter. This inquiry would go on to be known as the 'Burma Inquest'.

This annexation of Burma is protested by the Kingdom of Siam and the Qing Empire. However, diplomats from both nations are turned away, citing that this is an internal matter of the Maratha Empire.

Many Maratha soldiers and a few officers are held guilty of war crimes against the Burmese civilians and are subsequently court-martialed and executed. The Empress' message of reminding her armed forces that acts of brutality against civilians would not be tolerated is heard loud and clear. Even in the army garrisons of the Maratha colonies.

1853 A.D.\- Russia attempts an invasion of the Ottoman Empire but is defeated by a British, French and Italian coalition. One of the conditions of peace is Romanian autonomy within the Ottoman Empire.

1854 A.D.\- Following, financial and arms aid by the Maratha Empire and the Oda Shogunate, a Millenarian Christian cult in China topples several provincial governments and receives British and Maratha recognition. French support to the Qing government prevents the conflict from being concluded decisively, resulting in a China split between the powerful Qing state to the north and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom hugging the southern coast.

1857 A.D.\- An assassination attempt on the Empress is foiled by the OMI at the last minute. When asked to be appraised of the entire situation, the Director-General reports that despite their best efforts, many Jacobins from Europe and America managed to infiltrate the Maratha Empire and poisoned the Empress' subjects with their inflammatory ideals. The DG reports that following the orders of her grandfather, Chhatrapati Raghunath, the OMI had been actively involved in hunting down the so-called revolutionaries, but at this point had become like fighting a hydra, where after chopping off one head, two more would take its place. He also reports that it would not be advisable to just round-up the Europeans and have them killed or arrested, as many were protected by diplomatic immunity. Finally, the DG advises the Empress to be ready for war.

The OMI Director-General's warning comes true a few months later when protests for a constitutional change of the government turns ugly in Delhi.

Subsequent investigations revealed that Marathi-Jacobites had hijacked the protests and incited a riot, which forced the Governor to order the troops to open fire on the civilians.

The 'Massacre of Delhi' would become the immediate cause of the Rebellion of 1857. Suddenly, farmers, peasants and radical intellectuals would all rise up and kill nobility or rich merchants and overwhelm the local garrisons in many parts of the country, especially in North India. They especially seemed taken to the French idea of a republic and proclaimed the Republic of India with the capital at Delhi.

However, Empress Tarabai II had taken the warning of the OMI DG and a few months later, the short-lived republic would meet it's demise to professional troops of the Imperial Maratha Army. All the leaders of the rebellion were hanged as a warning to everyone else.

But moderate intellectuals do appeal to the Empress to invite the others to the negotiation table to know of their demands, and the Empress agrees if only to stop further bloodshed and violence.

1858 A.D.\- At the end of the negotiations, it is announced that the Maratha Empire would transition from an Absolute Monarchy to a Constitutional Monarchy. The Empress requests that all her subjects may submit proposals on the type of government and what laws should it have to a new Imperial Constitutional Revision Committee, which would be given a deadline of five years to draft a constitution for the nation.

1859 A.D.\- Native Americans equipped and trained by Deseret defeat a Louisianan expedition. The Algonquin Republic is formally recognized by Louisiana. Quebecois nationalists become more vocal.

1863 A.D.\- Russia invades White Ruthenia in an attempt to annex the territory lost to Napoleon. Zaporozhye, Livonia, and Poland come to White Ruthenia's aid and the invasion is defeated. Georgian and Armenian nationalists rebel and are successful for several months before Russia reconquers the Caucasian state.

A draft constitution is submitted to the Empress and her council.

The draft constitution is based on a Westminster-style system. Article 1 of the new Constitution states that the name of the State is now the Empire of India, which is now a constitutional monarchy with the Monarch as the Head of State.

The position of _Peshwa_, or Prime Minister, which had been made defunct by the machinations of Empress Tarabai I would be reinstalled, and this position would now be the Head of the Government, and 'first amongst equals'.

A new bicameral legislature called the Imperial Legislative Council would be constituted. The Lower House would be called the House of the People, whose members would be directly elected from around the Empire including their colonies (who would be given special representation). Its tenure would last for five years before it would expire and fresh elections are held.

The Upper House would be called the Council of Nobles, whose membership would be granted by the Monarch through appointment or by hereditary or official function. This house would not have tenure, because it's members would be appointed instead of being elected.

The position of Peshwa was the person who would be elected by the Lower House to be the leader of said House. This person would then be invited by the Monarch to form a government in their name and given some time to form a Cabinet. The Cabinet members had to be a member of either house of the Imperial Legislative Council and no person could be a member of both houses.

All provinces of the (new) Indian Empire would also have a similar system, and the head of the government of those Provinces would be a _Mukhyamantri_ or Chief Minister.

The Constitution states that all men are equal, and instituted a ban on forced labour, indentured or slaves, and also declared negative discrimination based on caste to be illegal and extended the reach of this law as enforceable and failure to comply would be punishable by law. Many European Historians of the time, especially the British hailed it as an excellent provision that was looking out for its fellow man.

While all this happened, it was still very well known that the Empress would not give up power so easily, and the new constitution stated that the Government and the Empress would share power equally on a 50-50 ratio.

1864 A.D.\- Russian serfdom is ended to stave off lower class militancy. Over 10 million privately owned peasants become free men.

1865 A.D.\- Russian emigrants drive down wages across Europe and the New World.

1866 A.D., May Day\- Demonstrations in Paris turn violent when protesters make political demands. Hussar's ride down radicals and onlookers alike. Similar demonstrations are also met with violence in London, Dortmund, Prague, and many other cities.

1866 A.D., May 2nd\- Parisians storm several armories and distribute thousands of muskets.

1866 A.D., May 3rd\- Government forces make little headway in the narrow streets and retreat to the city limits. Hundreds of soldiers and thousands of revolutionists are dead.

1866 A.D., May 4th\- Parisians declare a republic. Government forces begin a siege of the city.

1866 A.D., May 5th\- Radicals in Toulon, Marseilles, and Orleans begin large scale demonstrations in favour of the republic. Local militias refuse to fire on the crowds.

1866 A.D., June\- Insurrection spreads to other countries. Jacobins begin arming themselves in Britain, Westphalia, Luxembourg, Italy, Russia, Croatia, and many other nations.

1866 A.D., July\- Imperial forces assault Paris and sweep the streets with grapeshot. The Duchy of White Ruthenia falls to Jacobins.

1866 A.D., August\- The French Jacobins go underground, although many are later executed. The Duchy of Livonia falls to Jacobins. The King of Westphalia flees to France.

1866 A.D., September\- The French army moves to restore order in Germany. The Italian King requests French assistance.

1866 A.D., October\- A Louisianan army sets sail from New Orleans to retake Quebec City from Jacobins. Italian soldiers desert en masse to the Jacobins and attempt to liberate Piedmont from France but are repulsed.

1866 A.D., November\- French forces put down the revolutions in Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, and Austria. Livonia, Croatia, Holland and White Ruthenia form stable republican governments that are reluctantly recognised.

1867 A.D.\- Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Russia, and Zaporozhye reach accommodation with less radical elements of the Jacobins. The Republican Revolutions come to an end.

1868 A.D.\- The island of Crete attempts to break away from the Ottoman Empire and join Greece. The rebellion is put down with a great loss of civilian life, isolating the Ottoman Empire even further.

1875 A.D.\- Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Serbia explode into nationalist revolution. Simultaneously a Russian invasion diverts Ottoman attention. France and Britain decline to intervene. The Ottoman Empire is defeated, pushing her European borders almost back to Turkey.

1876 A.D.\- A Louisianan cavalry regiment led by Colonel Custer is destroyed by the Deseret Army around the Dakota-Lakota border. Mutual recriminations result in a short border war that pushes Deseret back to the mountainous interior before peace is signed.

1877 A.D.\- The Mexican Empire takes the opportunity to invade Deseret, but the incompetence of the field officers results in the loss of much of California.

1880 A.D.\- The Scramble for Africa begins. France, Britain, and India claim vast swathes of territory and almost come to blows over competing claims.

1885 A.D.\- The London Conference. African colonisation is apportioned between all attendees from Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

The Indian Empire manages to take up huge swathes of East Africa and also manages to fight the growing French influence in the Court of Madagascar by turning it into an Indian Protectorate.

1890 A.D.\- Louisiana and America agree to phase out slavery after the French and British governments declare increased tariffs on slave-made goods.

1908 A.D.\- Cuba declares independence from Spain. Quebec declares independence from Louisiana.

1909 A.D.\- Cuban independence movement defeated.

1911 A.D.\- Quebecois independence recognised by Louisiana.

1914 A.D.\- Italy attempts to conquer Abyssinia but is humiliated in a defeat.

1928 A.D.\- The Kings of Hungary, Poland, and Serbia agree to the partition of the Austrian Empire.

The French Empire backs Austria and brings the Continental System into the fight. Britain declares war on France and launches an amphibious invasion at Calais. Fighting across Europe quickly reaches stalemate as the killing power of machineguns and artillery shatters the Napoleonic mindset of the belligerents.

1929 A.D.\- Croatia and Bulgaria join the Continental System. Italy attacks France to take Piedmont, and Austria to take Istria and Tyrol.

1930 A.D.\- The Ottoman Empire enters the war on the Continental side, sending reinforcements through Bulgaria. Russia responds by attacking Turkey via the Caucasus.

1931 A.D.\- British attacks on neutral shipping result in a declaration of war by the Kingdom of America and the Empire of India. A detachment of American Royal Marines begin occupying British colonies across the Western hemisphere and the American Royal Navy starts firing on the British Royal Navy. Meanwhile, the Imperial Indian Army and the Imperial Indian Naval Infantry start attacking British possessions in Africa.

1932 A.D.\- The European economies are falling apart and food shortage has turned into starvation. Polish Jacobin-Socialists attempt to overthrow the King but are defeated by gas attacks and machineguns.

Caucasian separatists establish an unstable republic, uniting Armenians, Georgians, and Azerbaijanis in their hatred of Russia.

1933 A.D.\- Peace in Europe. Hungary and Poland are forced by the terms of the treaty to pay huge war reparations. Serbia loses territory to Croatia and Bulgaria. The French Mandate for Pomerania and the Spanish Mandate for Egypt are declared by the newly formed League of Nations.

1934 A.D.: The Young Turks revolt. The Ottoman Emperor narrowly secures his position as Head of State and Caliph of Islam but is forced to give up executive power.

1935 A.D.: A Socialist Republic is declared in Germany. Demobilized Westphalian troops organize into Freikorps to destroy the revolutionists in the name of God and Kingdom.

1936 A.D., May Day: Present Day…

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1960s\- Option 2.

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_AN: So how was it, guys? On my profile, there is a poll on this question. I would highly appreciate if you guys voted on it. If you don't want to vote, I hope you guys can write your thoughts in the review section. Also, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to PM me, or write it on the reviews. I hope you guys answer this, as I'll really appreciate it and help me with the dilemma I'm having. Lastly, and more importantly, I hope you and your families are all safe in these trying times. Peace out._


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